


Cold nights and the Sunday mornings

by wertdifferenz



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Klance AU Month 2019, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 17:26:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 31,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17985500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wertdifferenz/pseuds/wertdifferenz
Summary: All stories I wrote for the Klance Au Month 2019 on Tumblr.Keith and Lance love each other in all universes after all.





	1. Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> Title from George Ezra - Hold my girl. 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing these stories, and I'll continue with the march prompts from @monthlyklance on Tumblr.

Another student joined the lane at the register, making the queue longer and longer, and plummeting Keith’s mood closer and closer to a very dark abyss. He hates Mondays, mostly because of the Monday morning rush.

Pidge yawns beside him, relentlessly preparing the endless stream of caffeinated drinks these sleep-deprived students order. One is sweeter than the other, and Keith is sure that neither he or Pidge would ever think of getting one of these.

Hunk is in the back of the kitchen, preparing some sandwiches and cakes to place in the show window of their little bar right next to the register. Keith would kill for one of those cookies by now, he’s been eyeing them for the whole morning.

He tries his best to keep up the customer-service-smile, but he’s sure that it looks more like a grimace on him than the friendly face he tries to achieve. He’s not good with customers at all, but far better than Pidge, and since Shiro is sick and Hunk is needed in the kitchen, it’s up to him to keep the register running. 

Keith just wishes Lance was here. 

Lance is the only one of the team happy and willing to take on the register. He knows every drink they offer by heart, has probably tasted most of them as well, and is just generally happy and bubbly, even at seven a.m. on a Monday morning. 

Just as his thoughts start drifting towards his boyfriend, and his eyes towards the clock on their wall, he gets surprised by a peck on his cheek. Confused he turns around, not expecting Lance standing right behind him, dressed in his work apron and his typical beautiful smile. 

“Hey mullet, missed me?” he asks quietly while opening the second register right next to Keith.

“What are you doing here?” Keith is still staring at him, confusion clear in his voice. “You said you were off today.”

Half of the crowd in front of them moves over to Lance’s register way to early, since it is still in the middle of booting up. Keith ignores the annoyed glances he gets from his own customers, preferring to look at his boyfriend instead. 

“Shiro called me and told me he was sick,” Lance says quietly, leaving the ‘I would never let you suffer through this alone’ unspoken. Keith gets it anyway, and shoots his boyfriend a thankful smile, probably the first real one this morning, before getting back to work. 

Keith hates Mondays, mostly because of the Monday morning rush, but with Lance right next to him, everything seems a little bit nicer.


	2. Galtean

The sound of swords clashing together is easy to ignore if you hear it almost daily, like Lance does. Instead of the swords he concentrates on the melody of the birds singing around him, and the faint breeze that washes over the trees and lets their leaves rustle soothingly. 

Lance sits in between the Juniberry flowers of the royal garden, enjoying his lunch break while watching his mate spar with a few of his students. The still young and inexperienced future guards have a hard time against Keith, but Lance can see that he is taking it easy on them. 

Keith stops the sparing for a few moments to give his students a few tips, as well as a quick lesson on how to overwhelm stronger opponents without risking injuries or even lives. His students listen eagerly, all motivated to learn as much as possible in the short time Keith takes over for his brother, who is on paternal leave.

The training commences, but this time Lance can see that the students work together better than before, fighting in small groups and finally overpowering Keith and taking him down with one swift move. The cushioned wooden swords don’t do much damage, especially on a half-Galra like Keith, so he simply stands up and congratulates his students before releasing them into their well-earned lunch break.

As soon as the group vanishes inside the castle halls, Keith walks over to where Lance is laying in the tall grass by now. They palace gardeners won’t cut it as long as the Juniberry flowers bloom. Lance likes the little privacy the grass gives him and his mate whenever they are on a break and get to spend some time together. 

“Hey there,” Keith calls him softly, sitting down right next to Lance and placing a few short kisses on his mouth. “Did you have to wait long?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lance answers with a smile. “I like watching you train with your students.” 

While Lance closes his eyes to relish the warm weather and the soft breeze, Keith takes his time to caress the Altean marks under Lance’s eyes. Lance can feel these traitorous marks light up at the attention. Even after two years of being mated to him, Lance’s body still isn’t tired of the soft touches Keith pampers him with, and Lance doesn’t mind that his body shows his happiness in its own ways. 

“Are you hungry?” Keith asks while his hand strays to one of Lance’s locks to play with it. 

“I am.” 

Lance sits up and takes the little bag from his side, opening it to reveal to sandwiches and a few chopped up fruit for the two of them. He hands Keith his sandwich, which is full of protein rich meat that Galra need and takes his own vegetarian one on his lap before placing the fruit in between their feet. 

Whenever they eat together, Lance leans close against Keith, because he likes the contacts and knows that his mate likes it as well, even though he rarely shows it. Lance tells Keith about his work in the alchemy lab, how Colleen had helped him come up with a plan for crossbreeding stronger healing plants, and how Matt and Pidge had to clean half of the lab after their food-goo machine exploded. 

Keith listens to his stories, laughs every now and then and talks about his own work, about the bunch of students he’s teaching now and the shenanigans they are up to when no one is watching. For future guards still have too much mischief in their heads, but Keith doesn’t mind their pranks as long as they don’t hurt anyone. 

“They respect you,” Lance says before they part their ways. Lance has to go back to the lab and finish the preparation for his crossbreeding project, and Keith still has to spar with the rest of Shiro’s students as well as some guards who requested a few lessons. 

Keith shrugs beside him. “I guess they do, even though I don’t know why.”

“Of course, you don’t,” Lance laughs while raising himself on his tiptoes to get a few more kisses from his mate. Before he leaves, Lance takes Keith’s hands and squeezes them gently, mindful of his own Altean strength. “As long as you stay the way you are, you’ll be fine.” 

Lance gets a few more, thankful kisses from his mate for those words, giggling into each kiss with joy. He relishes Keith’s bashful affection before he has to leave for the lab, already excited to meet his mate in their home for dinner tonight.


	3. Mermaid

Lance watches the last little guppy swim towards its mother, soft green tail swishing though the current and still high voice chirping with excitement. It will take a few more moon circles for this little one to learn the language of Lance’s people, and until then chirps and giggles are the only thing it uses to communicate. 

The other mer working at the nursery have already left, since they all have family at home waiting for them. Lance was the only one who didn’t mind staying with the guppy until its parents came back from the hunt. Since his coworkers have already cleaned up the nursery for the day, the only thing Lance can do is to put the few toys he and the guppy used back into the shelf in the corner of the nursery and head back home as well. 

The nursery is in the safest spot of Lance’s colony. They build it right in the middle, surrounded by the houses of the mer and the kelp forest behind them, as well as underwater mountains that keep the strong current of the ocean and any predators away. 

Lance rounds many houses on his way home, some made of kelp, some carved into stone, some built from the human boats that couldn’t stand the ocean’s force and sunk to the bottom of the sea. His own home is a cave, carved into the stone by the water and decorated by soft sponges and kelp that covers the entrance and provides a bit more privacy. 

A few bacteria live in the sponges, lighting up the cave whenever someone touches it and creating a homey feeling to the otherwise cold stone. 

The cave is already illuminated when Lance arrives, and a few small fish and some sea fruit are placed on the little table in the corner. Keith is in the middle of cutting some of the fish into bite size pieces when he spots Lance through the kelp. 

“Welcome back,” he says with a soft smile, waiting on the bench he’s sitting on until Lance swims over to kiss him. Keith hums into the kiss, his gills fluttering with joy while he places his knife on the table and wraps his arms around Lance’s waist instead. Keith pulls him closer, until Lance is almost sitting on top of him. 

“How was the hunt?” Lance asks when Keith releases his mouth, but not before placing a few more kisses on his cheeks and the scales adorning his face. 

“It went well,” Keith answers, pointing to food on the table and the restocked bowls on the shelf above the table. “We caught many fish for the colony, and I found some of your favorite sea fruit on the way home.” 

Lance chirps in excitement and places another grateful kiss on his mate’s lips. Lance is proud to be mated to one of the best hunters of the colony. Keith always makes sure to bring home Lance’s favorite things while providing their big colony with enough food so that no one has to starve. 

“I also found something else,” Keith says after he’s finished chopping the fish. Lance is still on his lap, and Keith gently places him on the bench before swimming towards their bed where he put the little kelp bag Lance has made him for his hunts. 

Keith brings the whole bag to Lance and places it in his lap, leaving it to Lance to open it and see what he found. Inside, wrapped into a cloth that must be from above the waters, is a gorgeous red stone, something Lance heard the other mer call ‘looby’…

…or was it ‘ruby’?

“I’m going to make this into a necklace for you,” Keith explains as he takes the stone from Lance’s hands and places it just above his collarbone, “so that everybody knows you’re mine.”

“Everybody already knows that,” Lance laughs. He traces the red scales on his neck, the mating mark Keith placed on him many moon cycles ago. He traces his own mark on Keith’s neck next, the blue scales building a beautiful contrast to the red of Keith’s tail. “But I wouldn’t mind wearing another reminder.” 

Keith wraps his arms around Lance’s hip and lifts him on his lap again, taking the momentum to kiss his mate senseless. The food is forgotten for now, was well as the ruby in Keith’s hand, but Lance doesn’t mind as long as he can feel the lips of his mate on him for a little bit longer.


	4. Hogwarts

Since he ran through the wall at the platform 9 ¾ when he was eleven, not a single day has passed for Keith where he was not at least a little amazed by the new world he entered. Magic, charms, potions, enchanted objects and mysterious beings, unicorns, dragons, ghosts, house elves and whatnot more. 

But the most amazing thing he ever encountered is the boy with ocean blue eyes and a smile brighter than the sun that has turned his life even more upside down than his bewitched broom that is still trying to throw him off whenever Keith isn’t paying attention. 

Lance with his challenging looks, his triumphant laughs, his energetic voice and his boisterous manners. Lance with his soft kisses, his silent promises, his quiet love confessions and his gentle ways of showing Keith just how important he is to him. 

Lance is a puzzle that Keith will probably never solve completely, with all his little quirks and tics that contribute to Lance’s unique and very special character. It’s the little things that tend confuse Keith every single day he spends with Lance. 

Like, how he is able to remember the names of every single new student, every year! Keith is sure that there are at least five hundred people attending this school, and Lance knows them all on a first name basis. Keith has sometimes problems remembering his teacher’s name, and he’s been here for almost seven years. 

Or like how Lance is able to befriend almost every single owl that fly in and out of Hogwarts constantly. There are even more owls than students, and Lance can tell them apart by the pattern of their feathers of the way they coo at him when he gives them treats for passing his notes, even though he’s not their owner. 

Or how Lance manages to always find his way with the moving stairs. Keith is still amazed how Lance is able to tell which staircase to take to get to their next classroom, or their next lesson, or just simply the place they want to go in this huge castle, like the library, the dining hall, or their dorms. 

Whenever Keith tries to ask, Lance tells him about his big family, the muggle side and the magic side, and how his parents and siblings taught him from early age how to tell people apart, how to remember what to tell whom, how to make sure that everything stays the way it should be.

And of course, how Lance used these little tricks to his advantage. 

Like, right now, where they are sneaking out past bed-time, taking one flight of stairs after another, letting the moving staircases get them closer and closer to the place Lance won’t tell him about. 

“Patience,” Lance whispers every now and then when he catches Keith’s scowls and frowns, or when Keith’s patience runs short whenever they have to hide from a teacher in empty halls and behind big pillars. “Patience, Keith.” 

And Keith stays patient, stays quiet, lets Lance drag him along, up and up until they reach the last floor of the school. The staircases are behind them, already moving along again, leaving them with no choice but to take the long hallway towards the end of the floor. 

Lance tugs on Keith’s hand, squeezes his fingers briefly before walking ahead. With quiet steps they reach the end of the hall, where nothing but an empty wall greets them. But it’s not the wall that Lance is turned towards now, but the windows right next to them. 

Lance opens one of the old windows, the cold air streaming into the room, a faint breeze playing with Lance’s soft curls and bringing a blush on his cheeks. Keith steps closer as Lance lets his hand go, one foot already on the sill before Keith can stop him. 

“What are you doing?” he hisses quietly, snatching on Lance’s cloak to pull him back in. 

“Come on, Keith.” Lance takes his hand with a grin, the challenge clear in his eyes. “Trust me.” 

And with that he places his other foot on the sill, is out on the roof before Keith can tell him that he always trusts him. But Lance already knows that. 

When Keith finally steps on the sill to follow him, Lance is already laying on his back a few feet away, his hands tucked under his head as a pillow, and the grin faded into a content smile. 

Keith joins him on the roof, tries to sit carefully until Lance grabs his sleeve and yanks him down into his arms, into his chest. Lance’s arms wrap around his back and upper body, as if they belong there, what they probably do by now. Keith himself places his arms around Lance’s waist, the feeling familiar to his body, since he does this all the time. 

He would be content to just lay here and close his eyes, listen to Lance’s steady heartbeat and feel the warmth of the boy in his arms, but Lance nudges his side until Keith follows his gaze towards the stars. 

The view is breathtaking, with the wide expanses of the forest below them, the towers of the school framing the line between nature and sky. The stars shine above them, no light from the ground polluting their brightness, no cloud in the sky hiding them from their view. 

Keith is mesmerized and falls even more for the boy who brought him here, since Lance knows just how much Keith loves the stars. And when he looks up to see the night sky reflect in his boyfriend’s eyes, he can’t decide what he loves more. 

At least that’s what he thinks for a second, until he remembers that he would give everything for Lance, even his magic, even every single star in the universe. 

Lance casts his eyes on Keith, his smile now soft and full of affection for the boy in his arms. He kisses Keith’s forehead, his soft lips ghosting along his skin and hair before Keith lifts his head to catch them with his own lips. 

They stay like that for a while, the world around them forgotten with the soft touches and all the things Lance whispers against his lips. Promising plans for their future, little secrets Lance only dares to tell Keith, or just the simple three words Keith likes to hear the most. 

When Keith’s eyes begin to drop, with strong arms around him and a strong heartbeat lulling him in, Lance casts a spell or two so they stay warm, and Keith sends a wish to the stars that the universe graces them with more moments like this in the future. And if the universe won’t grant his wish, he just needs to find a spell that does. Hogwarts has a big library after all.


	5. Roommates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... and they were roommates!

“Lance!”

The door of their adjacent bathroom opens, a cloud of steam following the curly head that sticks out. Lance’s hair is still wet from the shower, as well as half of his body, the rest covered in a fluffy towel and, what never ceases to irritate Keith, he is wearing socks. 

Lance raises an eyebrow, a few drops of water running down his temple and dripping on the carpet under him. 

Keith tries to force his eyes away from the sight, can already feel the faint blush on his cheeks which he hopes is not visible in the dim light of the illuminated lamps on their nightstands. Instead he focuses on his current topic of anger, Lance’s clothes that are strewn through the whole room, even covering some of Keith’s bed and desk. 

“We talked about this,” he says as he holds up one of Lance’s shirts with a frown. 

Lance rubs his neck, suddenly very shy in his attire and looking at the floor instead of Keith. “Sorry, sorry.” 

His weak voice has Keith looking up, the anger about the dirty room forgotten for now. “Are you okay?”

Lance head perks up in surprise. “What? Yeah, of course I am.” He rubs his neck, forces a smile on his face which looks more like a grimace than the happy picture he’s probably going for. “Why are you asking?”

“Because lately, you seem… a bit down?” Keith asks carefully. He doesn’t want Lance to recoil from his intrusive questions but figures he should at least try to stay honest and sincere with his words, since he’s trying to help Lance and all. “And you always throw your things around and go for a shower when something is on your mind.”

Lance sighs and peels his pants and underwear off the floor. “It’s not important,” he murmurs before vanishing back into the bathroom to change his clothes. 

“It obviously is, if it makes you so worried,” Keith shouts after him, patiently waiting for Lance to come back. 

When Lance finally gets out, his hair is dry and his face shiny from one of his creams. His mood still seems to be down though, so Keith follows Lance towards his bed and takes a seat next to him. 

It takes a while of Keith’s staring for Lance to finally speak up. 

“The semester is coming to an end,” he starts slowly. “And Pidge’s roommate is moving out.”

Keith’s totally at a loss. “So?”

“I was wondering…” Lance sighs again, runs his fingers through his curls and scratches the back of his head. “I was wondering if you plan on staying with them again?”

Keith leans back on his hands, thinking about the question for a while. He feels uneasy with the topic, not sure where Lance is going with this but in the end, he figures he can do nothing but ask. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Well…” Lance hesitates again. He takes a deep breath before looking up to Keith, finally meeting his eyes with a shrug. “Yeah.”

“I already asked the head of our dorm to live with you again,” Keith explains after a second. “But if you don’t want to I ca-“

“No! I want to!” Lance interrupts him, flinching at the loudness out his own voice. There is a blush on his cheeks as his words seem to register with his head, and he tries to cover himself. 

“Live with you again, I mean,” he stammers. “Since we’re already used to each other, and… you know… it’s nice living with you.”

Keith feels a little weight lift from his shoulders, the worry forgotten when he laughs at Lance’s muttering. “Then it’s settled?”

Lance gives him a blinding smile. “Yeah.”

Keith smiles with him, takes his time looking at Lance properly, watches his eyes sparkle with happiness and enjoys the little dimples that form whenever he smiles brightly like this. 

“Good.” Keith gets up from the bed and takes another look at the room. He grabs his bag from where he left it at the door and starts pulling out some book for his homework. He gives Lance one more smile before his face turns serious. “Now clean up your shit.”

Lance jumps up from his bed, murmuring something Keith can’t quite make out. From the sound of it, it’s probably a few curses, but the permanent smile on Lance’s face gives his happy mood away. And Keith feels the same.


	6. Supernatural

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought of Lance as “mostly enthusiastic, but sometimes annoyed and irritated by his angel” Dean, and Keith as “utterly confused by human and their behavior, but very caring and protective of this one particular human that always refuses to take his advice” Cas. Or somewhat like this. I don’t watch supernatural, but I always imagine Cas and Deans gay dynamic like this.
> 
> Also, Lance’s whole family lives. As if I’d let them die for stupid cinematic reasons.

The wooden door of the diner crashes into its frame, but Lance ignores the sound and the complaints of the waitress and the few patrons in order to hurry to his car. He’s already at the door of his midnight blue Chevrolet Impala when he looks over his shoulder to see Keith stopping in the middle of the parking lot with a deep frown on his face. 

“Get in the car,” Lance sighs as he opens the door and plops down in his seat. Keith is standing next to the car by the time Lance starts the motor. He opens the door but makes no move to get inside. 

Lance regards him with an annoyed look, which makes Keith’s frown even worse. 

“Where are we going?” Keith asks after a few seconds; the confusion clear in his voice.

Lance sighs again. He motions to the building they just came from, thinking that Keith will get the hint. He doesn’t. 

“We’re going to visit this spooky ghost house that the old man mentioned,” Lance explains slowly as if he was talking to a child. With Keith you can never be sure just how much he understands. Just like Keith claims all the time, his “people-skill” are than rusty as hell but is seems like the centuries he spent away from normal interactions left his understanding of the simplest things in a constant stand-by mode. 

Keith crooks his head, which looks cuter than Lance will ever dare to admit and lifts his eyebrows. “You are in no condition to drive.”

“I had two beer,” Lance counters, already used to Keith’s ongoing disapproval of Lance’s choice of drinks in the morning. Keith should know by now that this argument will get him nowhere. 

“Don’t drink and drive,” Keith tries now.

Lance groans in annoyance. “I’m not drunk,” he clarifies, his mood now dropping significantly even though they finally found a new clue about the demon they are hunting for the last three weeks. Or should be hunting, if Keith just finally placed his stupid sexy ass into the Impala. 

Keith’s back to frowning. “But you ha-“

“Get in the car, Keith!”

Keith does not get in the car. Lance puts his head on the wheel and counts to ten. He takes a few deep breaths as he looks up again, trying to remember the words his old teacher told him when Lance got too eager behind a gun. 

Patience yields focus, or something. 

“Keith,” Lance warns him now, the irritation deep in his gut starting to boil up, “I will leave you here.”

Keith huffs, the argument turning his mood sour as well. “I didn’t drag your ass out of hell for you to die in a car accident.” He takes a step back from the car, scowls at Lance before his face lights up with an idea. “I will drive.”

Lance heads jerks up, his arms going protectively around the wheel of his car. “Touch my baby and I will throw you into hell.”

“I’m an angel, I won’t go to hell,” Keith retorts with an ugly snort. 

Lance snorts as well, but it sounds too mocking for both their liking. “I’m not sure your mighty farther will let you join his little vacation place in the clouds after you pulled the teenage-rebellion-card against him,” Lance explains slowly, watching how the meaning hits Keith after a second. 

Keith bites his lip. His eyes dart between Lance and the bar they just came from, searching for any good response. “Can’t Veronica drive us?”

“She’s busy.” Lance leans back in his seat, still watching Keith carefully.

He doesn’t get why Keith just won’t get into the car. They’ve driven together under way worse circumstances, like when Lance got impaled by a holy pike, or when they had to find a way through a horrible rainstorm caused by demons in the middle of the night.

The only times when Keith acts up like this is when they are about to face something very dangerous. The demon they are hunting comes into Lance’s mind. Sure, they faced worse, way worse if you ask any normal human being, but those where times where they couldn’t avoid getting in danger. 

The demon they are hunting is something they could just let be. Sure, it’s dangerous, but it’s mostly dormant, only coming back to life to eat a person or two every other decade. They could leave the problem to other hunters and enjoy the rest of the day in their hotel room, eating take-out food and watching TV. 

But that doesn’t sit right with Lance, and usually Keith thinks the same. 

“Keith,” Lance tries again, voice calmer and more collected than before, “get in the car.”

Keith looks at him, the furrow on his forehead and the lip he’s biting giving him away. He knows that Lance knows what he’s thinking, which makes him even more uncomfortable than telling Lance directly that he is worried. 

“Promise me you won’t crash.”

“Ugh, you little…” Lance breaths out, focusses on the main point of the conversation right now. Implying that he would ever let something happen to his car, or his co-driver, is a low blow to Lance’s pride, and Keith knows that. “I promise I won’t crash.”

Keith’s still at the door, lips now deep red from biting it so hard. He doesn’t meet Lance’s eyes, looks at his hands on the wheel instead as he murmurs, “And promise you’ll be careful in that spooky ghost house.”

“I’m always careful,” Lance answers softly. 

Keith looks up, trying out the puppy-dog-eyes and pout that Lance’s niece taught him the last time they came over. “Promise.”

“I promise.” 

Keith breaths out through his teeth, his shoulders sag down, and he loosens up his strong grip on the car door. 

“As if you’d let anything happen to me,” Lance adds after a while, his little knowing grin telling Keith all he needs to know. Lance trusts Keith just as much as Keith trusts him, most of the time at least. And Keith knows that Lance keeps his promises. “Can you get into the car now?”

“Okay, okay.” Keith flops into the seat and closes the door. He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at Lance, his face clearly displaying his discontent about the whole situation. “Here, happy.” 

“Seatbelt,” Lance grumbles, swallowing the few victory-lines that pop into his head when he can finally drive of this stupid parking lot. He doesn’t want to risk another argument, and he doesn’t want Keith to think that his concerns over Lance’s safety gets taken lightly. 

Lance is glad that Keith is by his side after all. The long, tiring and sometimes dangerous hunts are a lot more fun with him after all, and Lance can’t count the times Keith has dragged his ass out of really, really bad situations, saving his life and even humanity more than one time already. 

Keith is watching the passing landscape silently, wringing his hands in his lap and biting his lips again, a clear sign that he’s still not happy with them looking for that demon. But there is nothing Lance can do about it but make sure that they both get out there safely. Keith is family after all, and Lance won’t let anything happen to his family.


	7. Internet Friends

**Red_Lion**  
_[01:14] are you up?_

**BluePaladin2**  
_[01:15] yeah_  
 _[01:15] can’t sleep?_

**Red_Lion**  
_[01:16] nightmare_

**BluePaladin2**  
_[01:17] wanna talk about it?_

Keith sighs into his pillow. His eyes burn with from crust and tears, and his throat feels dry from the restless sleep. But worse than the uncomfortable feeling of his eyes and throat is the emptiness he feels deep in his chest.

He sits up with another sigh and turns on the little lamp on his nightstand. The soft yellow blinds him for a second before his eyes get used to it. He rubs his face a few times, trying to remove the crust and the tearstains on his cheek.

His phone vibrates next to him, the screen lighting up with a few messages from Blue. Keith can’t help the little smile that graces his lips whenever he writes with him, and now is not different. He doesn’t know when or how the other made himself comfortable in Keith’s life, he doesn’t even know his real name, but Keith is glad that Blue is always willing to talk to him.

**BluePaladin2**  
_[01:19] red?_  
 _[01:20] u okay?_

**Red_Lion**  
_[01:21] yeah, it’s just…_  
 _[01:22] the same dream as always_  
 _[01:22] but I don’t really want to talk about it_

**BluePaladin2**  
_[01:23] sure. wanna talk about something else instead?_

**Red_Lion**  
_[01:24] yeah_

**BluePaladin2**  
_[01:25] okay. cool. you want to know what my nephew got up to yesterday?_

**Red_Lion**  
_[01:25] sure_

Keith laughs quietly. Blue always seems to know what helps Keith the most in situations like these. It’s not the first time he’d woken up from a nightmare, feeling like drowning in the darkness of his room with Blue as the only lighthouse guiding him back to land.

It takes a few minutes for Blue to complete writing his story. Keith knows by now that Blue has a big family, many siblings and aunts and uncles and even a niece and a nephew he babysits from time to time. Maybe that’s why he knows so well how to handle Keith in his worst times.

Since they met on a tumblr fanpage for their favorite series a few months ago, they’ve become really close. Blue is online most of the time, never leaving without his phone, always available and willing to talk, banter or even argue with Keith about their favorite topics. After a few weeks of keeping it strictly about the series, both of them started to slip up, spoiling more and more about their private life until they became friends.

Until Keith became kind of depended on Blue’s late night chats.

Blue is still typing away, so Keith gets up and quickly washes his face. He gets a bottle of water from the mini fridge in his room and takes his time getting comfortable on his bed while waiting for Blue to finish.

He already feels a lot lighter than before. The nightmare is only a bad memory in the back of his head by now, and with the help of Blue forgotten by the time Keith goes back to sleep.

Blue probably doesn’t know how much he means to Keith by now. Keith really wishes he had the courage to ask for a meeting sometime, to get to know Blue personally, to be able to tell him just how much Blue helped him again and again.

For now, though he simply enjoys the others company for a little while longer.

When his phone lights up with the Blue’s next message, Keith is snuggling himself back into his sheets, phone in his hand and all of his problems forgotten for now.

**BluePaladin2**  
_[01:31] so my nephew had the great idea to prank his teacher by saying he is allergic to peanuts right before eating a Reese’s cup…_


	8. Garrison

The bell finally rings after what feels like hours of boring physics and math talk. The professor dismisses the class with a wave and hurries outside himself, trying to avoid the lunch queue in the canteen. 

Like the rest of his classmates, Keith stuffs his books and some notes into his Garrison-issued bag, shoulders it and leaves the room in a hurry. He doesn’t want to spend too much time in the canteen either, because Shiro promised to show him some new flight simulations right after lunch. 

Keith crosses a few hallways. Each and every single one of them is packed with students from all grades, since they have either lunch now or need to change classrooms for another lesson before their break. 

Keith passes a few familiar faces but pays them no mind since he doesn’t really like any one them. He avoids Griffin like the pest since they’re fist fight a few weeks ago, and even though his friends are pretty nice, they still side with Griffin, so Keith doesn’t talk to them either. 

Just as he’s about to enter the last hallway before the canteen, a group of cargo pilots from his grade walk out of a room. In the middle of them the loudest cadet of the whole academy, who declared him as Keith’s rival at the beginning of the year and hasn’t stopped bugging him since. 

Great…

Keith doesn’t even try to avoid him. McClain’s additional few inches make it possible for him to spot Keith in every crowd, no matter how many people in the same uniform stand around him. Instead he walks straight up to McClain, his eyes fixed on the other in a challenge. 

Like always, McClain meets his eyes halfway down the hallway. He takes a step to his left, right into Keith’s path, and squares his shoulders by taking his hands from his pockets and letting his arms dangle on his side. 

McClain is someone who never would back off from one of Keith’s challenges, especially the staring. 

Keith gets closer until their shoulders bump together. McClain takes the hit pretty ungracefully, tumbling a few steps back before he catches himself with the help of a few of his classmates. 

“Watch it, McClain!” Keith throws over his shoulder, loud enough for all the students in the hallway to hear. 

“Fuck off, mullet!” McClain snarls at him before turning around and leaving with his group. His big friend whispers something into his ear while looking carefully back at Keith, his eyes widened in fear. McClain hushes him quickly, and when he looks back as well, Keith can’t help but stick out his tongue, like a child. 

McClain responds accordingly, like a child. 

Keith turns around and shakes his head, taking a minute to frown at the people staring at him. They yank their eyes away and scatter, just as Keith hoped they would. His hands are clenched in tight fists, so he quickly hides them in his pocket to avoid drawing more attention on him.

Instead of heading for the canteen straight away, Keith hurries towards one of the toilets instead, getting into a free stall and locking the door behind him. Only now he allows himself to think back to the encounter just now.

How McClain, how Lance had looked at him, the amusement in his eyes at the challenging look Keith sent him. How them both had made extra sure to practice this shoulder bumping so none of them hurts the other by accident. 

With a smile he gets the little piece of paper Lance had placed into Keith’s hand when the bumped together. Keith still doesn’t know where Lance had picked up that little trick, but he’s sure glad that they can use it to send each other messages during the day without anyone noticing. 

As far as the rest of the Garrison is concerned, Lance and Keith can’t stand each other, always bantering or fighting in front of their classmates or friends. Since relationships between cadets are strictly forbidden, they use the silly rivalry Lance had made up to keep the attention away from them.

The little piece of paper is decorated by blue hearts in every corner and a cat with big, plushy ears on the side. In the middle is a note in Lance’s messy handwriting. 

_Usual place at 10?_

Keith places the note back into his pocket before ripping an equal sized piece of paper from his own notebook. He draws a little red cat in the corner before writing his answer. 

_Can’t wait!_

He folds the paper just like Lance had showed him and stows it into his right pocket. Keith mentally goes through his timetable for the rest of the day. He should be able to give Lance the message when their classes meet in the simulation room in the afternoon. 

Still smiling he gets up, repacks his bag and flushes the toilet. Keith needs a few seconds to fight down the smile again, even though he’s so excited to spend some hours with Lance in the evening that he doesn’t really care what the other students think of him smiling dumbly like that. 

As long as he can see Lance again, hold his warm hands and kiss his soft lips, Keith doesn’t give a shit about anything at all.


	9. Movie of Choice - Tangled

The handcuffs close around his wrists, the metal too tight on his skin to be comfortable. The long chain connecting the handcuffs to the pole of the stair cling with every movement, the sound vibrating in Lance’s chest and reminding him of the hopelessness of this situation.

Haggar throws his cuffed hand on the ground as she leans close to snarl into his face. “In case you get any ideas of following us.” She stands up and throws her cape around her shoulder, the dark, ugly fabric slapping against Lance’s head before she walks away.

“Lance!”

The second she leaves him, Keith is by his side, carefully cradling him in his arms, mindful of the deep stab wound in Lance’s stomach.

Lance coughs a few times. Every movement sends flashes of pain through his whole body, but it hurts him even more to see the pain mirroring in Keith’s eyes.

“Ha-ah!” Lance breaths out. He tries to sit up, which only makes him cough more. Keith supports him, takes his body weight and hold him close. His hand is hovering over Lance’s stomach, unsure if he should touch the wound or just leave it be.

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” Keith murmurs softly. He takes some of his hair, wraps it into a ball to press it on Lance’s stomach. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“No. Keith-“ Lance takes Keith’s hand, pulls it away from the wound. The golden strands are pushed out of Keith’s hand as Lance intertwines their fingers. They are warm, almost hot even, fitting the hot-headedness of their owner.

Keith looks at their fingers, his lips forming a bittersweet smile. He meets Lance’s gaze, his indigo eyes tearing up when Lance won’t let his hand go. “I promise. You have to trust me.”

“No-“ The rest gets swallowed by more coughing, the fit stronger than the others. Lance is wheezing when he finally catches himself. A strong hand is stroking his back gently, and Keith’s face is close to his own, so close that Lance could just lift his chin and kiss him.

“Come on. Just breath,” Keith pleads, his voice wobbling dangerously.

Lance squeezes Keith’s fingers, looks at him with the same pleading in his eyes. “I can’t let you do this.”

Keith frowns at him, gently places his hand on his cheek. “And I can’t let you die.” His eyes show determination now, the same determination Lance saw when Keith threw himself out of the window of his tower, or when he went to fight a bar full of pirates and actually won.

Lance would love to smile at the memories, but Keith is back to placing his hair over the wound. Lance’s weak grip on his hand is not able to stop him, probably makes him even more resolved in doing this.

Lance holds on to Keith’s hand until his strength disappears. His arms fall on the ground, weak and useless like the rest of his body. His mind is screaming at him, pleading to do something, to stop Keith, but he can’t even lift a finger anymore.

Lance needs to whisper since his voice leaving him as well. “But if you do this…”

“Shh.” Keith interrupts him, soft but intent, not leaving any space to argue.

But Lance wouldn’t be Lance if this would stop him.

“…then you will die,” he forces out, every breath more labored than the last. The pain is unbearable, drilling through his body and making him unable to concentrate on anything but… anything but the pale hand on his cheek.

“Hey,” Keith whispers, his smile full of pain himself, “it’s gonna be alright.”

Lance groans, knowing that he has lost this battle. But he refuses to give up. He can’t let Keith do this, can’t let him go with Haggar to live the rest of his life in a tower even more miserable than this one. Not right after Keith finally learned what it meant to be free, what it meant to be happy.

His fingers twitch, the anger deep in his chest making his whole body burn hotter than the pain of the wound. Lance wants to scream, to cry, to fight, to do anything to get them out of this, to get Keith to safety, to his parents where he belongs.

Lance’s hand brushes over the ground. The handcuffs won’t budge, the chains as well. The only thing that moves are the shards of glass that are scattered all over the floor. The small ones cut into his skin, but Lance can hardly feel it anymore. The big ones could do much more damage, stabbing him just like the dagger that Haggar had hidden her coat.

Lance feels for the bigger shards until he finds one the size of his hand. He grasps it and ignores the sting it causes when it cuts into his palm. The shard can’t cut the chains, can’t open the lock of the handcuff, but it can buy Keith his freedom. Even if it costs Lance his life.

“Keith?” Lance whispers just as Keith’s lips part, the first note of his song stuck in his throat as he watches Lance with his big eyes. His beautiful, big, indigo eyes. “Wait.”

Keith’s cheek looks even paler when Lance gently strokes it, his fingers trembling as he brushes a few wayward strands from his face. Keith lets him trace his hand over his golden hair, closes his eyes as he enjoys the soft caress. He doesn’t notice when Lance collects the strands in his nape, doesn’t see Lance raising the shard in his hand, doesn’t realize what Lance is about to do until it’s to late.

With one, swift move the deed is done. The long golden strands fall on the ground as the rest of Keith’s hair turns black, the dark color making him look even more ethereal. Lance falls back, the rest of his strength definitely gone.

“Lance, what…?”

Keith grasps his hair, the short strands curling around his fingers. He looks on the ground, snatches the cut strands just as the tips start to turn black as well.

“NO!” Haggar screams somewhere in the back, her eyes furious, her voice full of rage. “Oh no! No! What have you done?” She falls on the ground, hold the still golden strands to her chest, but lets them fall as if they burned her when they turn dark. “What have you done? No! Oh no, no, no!”

Lance’s vision gets blurry, but he can still see that Haggar is aging rapidly. Her black hair is greying, her young skin wrinkling, her lofty body hunching over as her frail bones can’t support her anymore. She crawls over to the broken mirror, only catches a glance before she scrambles back in horror. She tries to stand up, but her knees won’t support her, buckling under her weight over and over again, until she hits the low windowsill.

The next things Lance sees is the witch falling backwards, a long scream following her all the way down. There is no sound of her body hitting the floor, only the sudden silence and a cloud of ash getting carried away by the wind.

Lance’s gaze falls on Keith, who has still the black hair in one hand, the other hand outstretched towards the window. His eyes whip back to Lance, the indigo filled with horror and fear. Lance leans back against the pole, his own eyes suddenly so, so heavy.

“No no no, Lance!” Keith is pleading again, moving closer to rest Lance’s head on his lap. He caresses Lance’s cheek, his other hand finding Lance’s and squeezing it. “No, look at me. Look at me, I’m right here.”

Lance wants to say something, anything, but the words get stuck in his throat. Keith is so close, and so beautiful, and Lance wants to live so, so bad.

“Don’t go! Stay with me, Lance.” Keith places Lance’s hand on his head. His hair is so soft, the curls so pretty, and Lance wants to run his fingers through it for the rest of his life. Well, at least one wish gets granted today.

Keith strikes up his song, his voice wobbling with every word.

_“Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine”_

“Keith. Hey…” Lance tries to stop him. He can feel his body turning cold, his heart refusing to beat any longer, his breath getting weaker and weaker. But he still needs to tell Keith…

_“Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine”_

“Keith!”

“What?” Keith sobs. He takes Lance’s hand and places it on his chest, right above his heart.

Lance smiles, or at least tries to, and takes one last, deep breath. “You were my new dream,” he whispers.

“And you were mine,” Keith answers, smiling as well, even though it must hurt so much.

Lance eyes grow too heavy, so he closes them. _It’s okay,_ he thinks to himself, because the last thing he sees is Keith’s smile, the last thing he thinks of is Keith’s freedom, and the last thing he hears is Keith’s beautiful voice. How could he ask for more?

_“Heal was had been hurt_

_Change the Fates’ design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine”_

Lance can feel something wet on his cheek, doesn’t know if it’s his own tears or Keith’s. But it can’t be Keith’s, because he never cries.

“What once was mine…”

Keith holds him close, leans their foreheads together and lets Lance feel warm for one last time. The pain is long forgotten, as well as the anger. What stays is the warmth in his cheek, in his chest, the happiness of being close to Keith one last time.

Lance feels himself falling, feels how the dark, cold hands of death clasp his body, his mind and his soul, feels them trying to pull him even further, but something is holding him back.

Something is holding him tight, keeping him warm, just like Keith did.

This something is shining in a golden light, is burning him from the inside, but it’s a good feeling, just like that time Keith had healed his hand with his magic. This light feels like Keith, like his pale cheeks in his palm and his soft curls between his fingers. It feels like the butterflies in Lance’s stomach whenever Keith laughs, or the blush on his cheeks when Keith looks at him with his beautiful, intense eyes.

This light feels like the golden strand Lance cut off, like the warm fingers that are intertwined in his own, like-

…just like…

“…Keith?” Lance opens his eyes, sees the flashes of golden light disappearing into the air and the man in front of him look from Lance’s wound to his face.

“Lance?” Keith’s voice is full of wonder, his eyes wide and his fingers trembling as he squeezes Lance’s hand again.

Lance squeezes back, his body still a bit weak but his smile strong. He looks at Keith, really looks at him, takes in his teary, indigo eyes and his short, raven-black hair, and decides that on the deathbed or not, Keith is the most beautiful person he has ever seen.

He chuckles quietly and lifts his hand to Keith’s hair. “Did I ever tell you I have a thing for black-haired?”

“Oh, Lance!”

Keith’s laugh is wet, and there are definitely tears in his eyes now. Lance catches a glimpse at them before Keith throws himself into his chest, pushing him to the ground and falling over to his side. Lance holds him close, presses his face into Keith’s neck and cries his own tears of joy.

Keith sobs into his shoulder, repeats his name over and over like a mantra, which sounds like music in Lance’s ears. Just like this, with Keith in his arms, Lance knows that he doesn’t have to wish for a happy ending anymore.


	10. Youtubers

“Hey everybody, and welcome back to my channel!” Lance says enthusiastically, his video-smile on point as he greets his audience. “Today we are doing, like many of you requested, a Q&A with the boyfriend!”

Said boyfriend is sitting next to Lance on the blue couch in his filming room. Keith smiles at the camera, like they practiced before, and awkwardly waves a few times. “Hey…”

Lance beams at him, before he takes his phone from his lap and looks through his gallery for the screenshots, he took of the questions his fan asked on his social media before.

Keith knows by now that Lance will cut out the minute he spends looking through his phone, so he takes the moment and rests his head on Lance’s shoulder. Lance chuckles and moves his hand up to absentmindedly play with Keith’s hair, never taking his eyes off the screen.

When he finds the question he wants to start with, Lance looks up and takes Keith’s hand to squeeze it. “You ready?”

Keith nods and lifts his head from Lance’s shoulder, sits up straight and takes a deep breath. He is still a bit nervous, but with Lance’s fingers squeezing tightly around his own, the messy ball of nerves inside his stomach seems to detangle a little bit.

“Just remember,” Lance says lowly, as if someone could hear him, “if you are uncomfortable with a question just tell me so and we’ll leave it out, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Keith sighs deeply. “You already told be that a hundred times before.”

Lance kisses the tip of Keith’s nose. “I just want to make sure that you are happy. It’s not everyday that you agree to do a video with me.”

Lance’s smile is so happy and grateful that Keith wonders why he didn’t agree to do this with Lance sooner. The thankful kisses he received and Lance’s excitement alone are enough to make Keith forget the fact that he doesn’t like feeling so awkward in front of any camera for the moment.

“Alright, first question is from taxi_yellow18: ‘Lance, you mentioned that you and Keith were rivals when you met. How did you end up as boyfriends?’”

Keith can feel the blush on his cheeks, so he looks at the ceiling in an attempt to hide it. “That is an embarrassing story,” he groans lowly.

Lance laughs beside him. “You wanna tell it?”

Keith sighs and fights down the blush before looking at the camera again. “Basically, I was an asshole-“

Lance gasps, interrupting Keith’s mid-sentence.

“Babe, you can’t swear on my channel,” he scolds lowly, but the smile on his face tells Keith that he isn’t really mad.

“Oh sorry. Just bleep it later.” Keith gives him an apologetic kiss on the cheek before continuing. “So, I was really mean to Lance when we met first, because I had a horrible day and Lance kind of got on my nerves when he flirted with me. But we had the same class, and out astronomy professor decided to put us together for a project. With time we just got closer, started to hang out more between classes, and one time after one of Allura’s parties-“

“Which are always crazy, I must add,” Lance giggles beside him, earning a nudge from Keith.

“They are. So, after one of her parties we headed to sleep at Lance’s place, because his dorm was closer than mine. It was in the middle of winter, and his dorm had mistletoes in every doorframe. We came to one, and Lance dared me to kiss him, so I did. And then we kind of confessed our feelings the next morning.”

“I love that story.” Lance sighs, phone back in his hand and smiling down at it. “It’s not really _that_ embarrassing.”

“It is because I was so mean to you,” Keith counters, his head going back to rest on Lance’s shoulder.  “Next question?”

“Yep, let’s see… dorianfruit_xxo asks: ‘Are you guys planning to marry soon?’” Lance looks to Keith, waiting for any sign that Keith’s still okay with that question.

Keith nods a few times after thinking about it. There’s no harm in letting the world know what they plan for the future, even if it’s still far away. At least that’s what Lance thinks.

“Well,” Lance starts still half in thoughts, “we talked about marriage already, since we are together for over three years now. But we figured we’re still pretty young, so it doesn’t hurt to wait a little bit longer.”

“Your channel takes a lot of work as well,” Keith points out. “You don’t have time to plan a wedding.”

Lance laughs beside him. “Yeah, that’s true. And I can’t let you plan it, or it will end up in a disaster like our first anniversary,” he teases.

“Hey,” Keith laughs as well, the memory of that disastrous evening still fresh in his head. “It was mostly Shiro’s fault.”

“Alright, next question,” Lance interrupts before they start out with _that_ discussion again. “It’s not really about us, just a general question. Glee_Holly01 wants to know what we plan for the future.”

“Depends on what they mean,” Keith says.

“Yeah, true.” Lance thinks about it for a moment and squeezes their still intertwined fingers before answering. “Well, I don’t have anything big planned for the channel. Of course, I have my upload plan for the near future, but anything further away than three months is a surprise. For my life, or for our lives I guess, there’s nothing big going on either. We just moved into our new apartment, so we’re still settling in, but we’re overall happy with what’s going on right now, right?”

Lance looks at Keith, trying to remember if he left anything out.

“Yeah, no real plans,” Keith jumps in, “besides a few trips during our holidays. You could talk about that.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea.” Lance beams at him, before he faces the camera with excitement, almost jumping in his seat at the thought of the trips they have planned. “First we are going to visit my family in Cuba…”

Keith zones out, happy with letting Lance retell all their holiday plans. He revels in the thought of Cuba, of seeing Lance’s family again and of surprising Lance with a date-night at the beach, with great food, some dancing, and the engagement ring he has hidden in the drawer with their winter clothes.

While Lance keeps on talking of what they are going to eat at his abuela’s place, Keith squeezes his hand again, already imagining how the ring will feel on his fingers when Keith finally asks Lance to marry him.


	11. Historical

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aka Ancient Greece

“You should braid it if you want to keep it so long,” Lance says as he runs his fingers through Keith’s soft hair. He ignores Keith’s amused huff to play with the black, curly ends; wrapping them around his fingers and tugging it slightly when Keith gives him an unimpressed look.

“I’m not a woman,” Keith answers, reaching behind him to pull Lance’s hand away from his hair and intertwine their fingers instead. He tugs their hands to his chest, so that Lance can concentrate on his heartbeat instead of his hair.

“I didn’t say that.” Lance smiles at him innocently, but he knows that Keith can see the teasing glint in his eyes.

Keith huffs again, this time more annoyed than amused. “Only women braid their hair,” he says, referring to the beautiful hairstyles that Greek women like Lance’s sisters are known for. Every single one of them takes their time in the morning to twist their hair into a proper braid, or around a beautiful headband that was gifted by a loved one.

Wearing long hair in a pinned updo is common, but most men wear their hair short, like Lance does, and not at shoulder length, like Keith prefers. But Keith is not like most men, which Lance is certainly thankful for.

Lance wraps his free arm around Keith’s waist and pulls them down into the fluffy pillows adorning his favorite _klines_. His head falls on the low backrest, and he holds Keith close, so they don’t slip off the edges. The _klines_ is made for one person after all, but they make it work.

The house is empty, besides a few servants tiptoeing through the hallways, cleaning the vases and sculptures Lance’s mother is so fond of, or preparing dinner for the evening. With the size of Lance’s family, and most of them living under the same roof, it’s rare that they have some time to their own.

It’s so rare that Lance enjoys every second of it, every moment that he doesn’t have to get up and leave the warmth of Keith’s arms around him for some trivial business that he’d rather not attend to.

“Well,” he continues their conversation, a smirk already forming on his lips, “your place in our relationship would be defined by femininity and youth.”

“Who defines that?” Keith murmurs perplexed.

“Society does.”

Keith snorts. “Well, society can kiss my arse.”

“No, it can’t, because I’m already doing that,” Lance laughs, and pinches Keith gently into his back, making him squirm in his arms. The motion makes Keith’s wine-colored tunic slip over Lance’s hand. The soft fabric leaves Keith’s legs uncovered as he entangles them with Lance’s, and it cascades on the floor like a waterfall in the setting sun.

Lance takes the cloth and pulls it over both of their legs, since he doesn’t want Keith to get cold in the soft breeze of the setting afternoon. He traces the golden pattern on the seam of the fabric, marveling in the beautiful craftsmanship of his favorite sewer. “You prefer long robes as well,” he notices after a while, speaking out loud just to make a point.

“Only because you like them on me,” Keith counter with a yawn.

Well, he is not wrong. All the clothes he owns were picked by Lance or his mother, and since both of them find that long dresses suit Keith’s figure even better than short dresses do, they bought him a bunch of long ones in all kinds of materials and colors, just because they can.

Lance’s fingers start wandering again, over soft fabric and even softer skin, until it reaches the cold metal around Keith’s wrist. “And what about all your jewelry?” he asks softly, referring to the white gold bracelet adorning his wrist, the delicate metal braided into a hoop and adorned with pearls made of amber.

“Gifts from you,” Keith whispers, his own hand tracing the golden laurel leaves that twine around his upper arm. The same leaves ornament the clips in his hair, the gold a pretty contrast to Keith’s raven-black curls. “I wouldn’t own anything if it wasn’t for you.”

Lance can hear the gratitude in Keith’s voice, accepts the soft kiss on his lips that he gets whenever Keith reminds him of the privileges Lance has granted him by buying him from a slave trader at the harbors.

“Well, I prefer giving you pretty stuff instead of daggers and swords,” Lance teases, trying to lift the heavy mood a little bit. He doesn’t want to spend his time with Keith reminiscing about the past, especially since fate hasn’t been kind on Keith before they met.

“I wouldn’t mind daggers and swords,” Keith answers, picking up the teasing with a lazy smile. He stretches himself luxuriously like a cat, trusting Lance to keep him from falling of the _klines_ before snuggling back into his chest.

Lance traces Keith’s hairline with his lips, smiles when the loose strands tickle his skin. “I know that my father gave you a sword, matching the dagger you inherited from your mother,” he murmurs softly.

The dagger was the thing Keith owned when Lance brought him to his families’ villa. Not even the rags he called clothes belonged to him. Lance had to buy a tunic and sandals on their way back from the slums, and wrap him up in his own cloak, so Keith could at least walk with decency.

“I’ll stick with things that accent your beauty, not your danger.”

“Are you scared of me?” Keith teases, his laugh muffled as he presses himself into Lance’s chest.

“No,” Lance chuckles, “just for the people that stand in your way.”

Lance can feel him giggle, Keith’s whole body shaking in his arms. He pulls him even closer, buries his smile in Keith’s hair and enjoys the flutter of the butterflies in his stomach and the heat that spreads through his chest whenever he hears Keith laugh, sees Keith smile.

Lance’s hands start wandering over Keith’s tunic again, slipping under it a few times to caress the pale skin beneath it. He can feel Keith play with his bracelets against his chest, the metal, pearls and jewels brushing against each other and creating melodic snicks.

“I like that one the most,” Keith says, and Lance doesn’t have to look down to know which bracelet he’s referring to. The thick, white gold band is adorned by a roaring lioness with eyes, teeth and claws made of beautiful sapphire stones. The animal is leaping into battle, just like the family of warriors Lance descends from did years ago, earning them great respect and fortune in Greece and its colonies.

“Good,” Lance answer, “because it tells everyone that you belong with my family.”

Keith looks up, his eyes showing concern. “Then I need to get you something too, so everyone knows that you are mine.”

“No weapons,” Lance says immediately.  

“I thought about a collar.” Keith grins at him, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Your sisters would love that.”

“Of course, they would. And they would mock me for the rest of our lives,” Lance scoffs and rolls his eyes. He ignores Keith’s snicker, tries not to laugh himself at the little snorts that Keith stifles behind his hand.

Only when he calms down again Lance runs his fingers through Keith’s bangs and kisses his forehead. “I don’t need anything with you by my side,” he whispers against his skin.

“I’ll just never leave your side then,” Keith answers just as quiet, but full of determination.

Lance heart skips a beat when he hears these words. They both know that no one can tame the fire in Keith’s heart, the same fire that screams for freedom loud enough to break every chain that tries to hold him down. But to know that Keith wants to stay here, stay with Lance, makes his heart overflow with love and affection for Keith.

Lance nuzzles his face into Keith’s hair. His voice is raw, his eyes close to tearing with all these emotions flooding through him.

“Good,” is his only response, but Keith’s quiet laugh tells him that he feels just the same. 


	12. Role Reversal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Black Paladin Lance!!

A few stray beams of the sentries’ blasters hit the wall where they are hiding from the enemy. Keith can almost feel the heat of the weapons on his skin, the vibration of the beam hitting metal in his back.

“Shit,” Lance mutters beside him, staring at the wall in front of them while thinking of a plan.

“We are stuck,” Keith reminds him, every word pressed out between heavy breaths from the previous fights, “we need to move.”

“I know, geez,” Lance answers, breath just as heavy, and the sweat running down his temple. The white and black of his armor is covered in dust and ashes, his helmet is sporting a few cracks from when one of the Galran soldiers threw him against a wall.

“I know,” he repeats, mostly to himself, “but if we rush in, they’ll shoot us before we can reach them.”

Keith exhales lowly, feels the anger welling up inside him and embraces the familiar feeling. “We can’t just stay here and do nothing!”

Keith is about to jump up and face the sentries alone, but Lance holds him down with all he’s got. With the boy almost draped around his upper body and holding on tight, Keith can do nothing but sink back on the floor.

“Calm down mullet. Patience yields focus.” Lance releases Keith carefully, only letting fully go when Keith doesn’t jump right back up.

“Patience won’t get our friends out of the prison cells!” Keith tries again, his voice more biting than he wants to.

“Impatience will get us killed, and then they’ll be Galran prisoners for good!” Lance fires back, his tone reaching the same despair and annoyance Keith is feeling right now.

Keith opens his mouth, ready to reply with anything that comes to his mind, but… nothing comes to his mind.

He huffs frustrated. Of course, he knows Lance is right. They need a plan, a strategy, something that will help them get their friends back from the Galran’s hands. And it doesn’t help that his emotions are getting the best of him, again.

Lance places a hand on Keith’s shoulder, squeezes it lightly to bring him back to this reality. “Take a deep breath and try to calm down, I need my right-hand-man clearheaded,” he says quietly, his voice matching the calmness Keith feels washing over him from the familiar gesture.

“Okay, yeah,” Keith breaths out, burying his face in his hands, which would feel a lot better if the stupid helmet wasn’t in the way. He’s about to just pull it of and throw it away, but the sentries around the corner remind him with a few blasts that this wouldn’t be a good idea.

…would it?

“I have a plan,” Keith says suddenly.

Lance’s head jerks up, surprised at his words, but willing to listen anyway. “Shoot.”

“The sentries shoot on everything that moves,” Keith starts. He takes off his helmet and holds it to his chest. “I throw my helmet, they shoot at it. While they are distracted, you shoot them while I attack them from the front.”

Lance ponders for a second, thinking about the ups and downs of the plan, but in the end it’s the only chance they have.

“Okay,” he answers with a short nod, “but we will take my helmet.”

He holds up his hand as Keith tries to protest.

“I’m covered by the wall, but you’re out in the open,” he points out, making it clear that he won’t accept any change to that. Probably just to be sure, he adds, “You keep your helmet, Keith. Black Paladin’s order.”

Keith takes another deep breath but puts his helmet on without another word. He knows that Shiro and Allura would kill him if he disrespects Lance’s order, especially when the thing he ordered makes so much sense. It just doesn’t sit right to leave his boyfriend vulnerable like this.

Lance nudges his shoulder. “Hey, I’m not defenseless,” he says carefully, as if he’d read Keith’s mind.

Well, after one year of being his leader, and two years of being his partner, Lance probably knows Keith better than Keith knows himself.

“Just be careful,” Keith murmurs after a second, bumping his head into Lance’s shoulder to get another second of contact with him.

“You do the same,” Lance laughs quietly as he takes his helmet off. They both ready their bayards, Keith his swords, Lance his blaster. “Ready?”

Keith crushes down beside Lance, right at the corner of the wall that protects him, bayard held close to his chest and prepared to strike.

“Ready,” he breaths out, waits for Lance to throw the helmet and is out within the next breath. 


	13. Disney

Five years ago, Keith didn’t think that confessing his feelings for Lance on a whim would get him very far.

Left alone with him right in front of the castle in Disneyland Anaheim, California, in the middle of a giant crowd and the only beacon of light being Lance pressed tightly into his side, confessing was probably the last thing either of them would have expected Keith to do. But when the fireworks started, all Keith could see was the childlike awe in Lance’s eyes and his lips parted in a beautiful smile.

“I like you.”

The words came out before Keith could stop himself, and the surprise on Lance’s face was got illuminated by thousands of red and blue lights in the sky, as well as a loud boom a few seconds after.

That marked the beginning of their relationship, as well as their tradition to visit a new Disneyland whenever they can.

Five years ago, it was Anaheim with their friends. The year after, when Keith went home with Lance to get introduced officially, they took their time to visit Walt Disney World in Orlando, since Lance hasn’t been there either.

Two years ago, right after finishing college, they got invited to Shiro’s wedding in Japan, and since they managed to save a ton of money on flights an accommodation, the trip to Disneyland in Tokyo was inevitable.

After Lance’s sister started working for an airline, the whole family used the cheap prices she got them for flights to go out and visit the world. Lance surprised Keith with a week long trip home to South Korea, and Keith felt the need to do something for Lance as well. A few phone calls and a vague promise of a wedding in the near future later, and they got a weeklong trip to Honk Kong, including Disneyland of course.

By now Keith has gone on so many rides, has eaten so much cotton candy, has bought so many hats with mouse ears that he should feel tired of it already. Keyword: should.

But when he saw the offer for a one week all-inclusive trip to Paris, the city of love and the third most famous Disneyland in the world, he couldn’t not accept. This trip was a surprise again, Lance only found out where they went when Keith gave him the boarding tickets for the business-class flight Rachel has booked them on.

They are standing in front of the castle again, Lance marveling at the pretty architecture, and Keith at the pretty boy in his arms. He has his chest pressed to Lance’s back and his chin resting on Lance’s shoulder, enjoying the warmth of his body and the sweet smell of Lance’s cologne.

Keith’s stomach is full of cotton candy again, as well as some fizzy drinks and a big bowl of ice cream they had earlier. Since it’s in the beginning of June, the park is pretty empty, and they had no problem getting around the smaller crowds with a Fastpass and maybe some running.

Lance squeezes Keith’s hand, their intertwined fingers resting in the front pockets of Lance’s jacket. His sigh is so full of content and happiness and his smile so bright, that the words tumble out of Keith’s mouth, just like they did years ago.

“I love you.”

Lance chuckles in his arms and gently bumps their heads together. “I love you, too.”

“Which Disneyland is your favorite?” Keith asks after a while, his voice low enough so no one can hear their little talk. He aims for a little bit of privacy between them, a small bubble in the middle of the people around them.

“The one in Anaheim,” Lance answers just as quiet. His answer comes quick, because it’s not the first time someone asked him this, but the first time Keith does.

“Why?”

“Because that’s where you confessed to me,” Lance murmurs with a smile. “That’s were our relationship started.”

Keith hums lowly. “What would it take to make Paris your favorite one?”

Lance snorts quietly, and his smile forms to a grin. “Something big.”

“Like a proposal?” Keith asks innocently.

Lance takes a moment to think about it. “Yeah something like that,” he answers finally. “But I don’t think you would ever do something so cliché.”

Usually Lance would be right, but Keith thought that a little bit of cliché would be appropriate for his next question.

He untangles their fingers and reaches into the pocket of his own jacket, grabbing the small velvet box he carried around the whole day. It felt like the box has burned a whole into his side, and Keith feels somewhat relieved when he can finally take it out and present it to Lance.

“Are you sure?” he whispers into Lance’s hair, relishing in the little gasp Lance let’s out when he sees the box, and a second gasp when Keith opens it to reveal the pretty, white-gold ring with a flower of sapphires in the middle.

Seems like Paris will be Lance’s new favorite Disneyland after all.


	14. Soulmates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance’s mark: deep red carnations – burning love   
> Keith’s mark: Blue forget-me-nots – true love

The college’s library is a quiet place, quiet enough for Keith to get lost in his thoughts. He traces the petals of the blue forget-me-nots on his arm, the rest of the world forgotten for the moment.

Lately, his soulmark has started to tingle whenever he looks or touches the flowers, which makes him wonder if fate finally decided that it’s time for him to meet his soulmate.

The mark appeared shortly after his thirteenth birthday, a belated present if you want to say so. Keith grew up wondering if he would get a mark at all, and after the delicate flowers started blooming on his right arm, if the universe really knew what it was doing by giving Keith a soulmate.

As a teenager, he was bullied a lot. He never really got along with people, was awkward around large groups and at a total loss on how to make friends. He only started to try and socialize a bit more when he became friends with one of the upperclassmen, Shiro.

Now he has a solid friend group, which may not be big, but all he really needs. But the bullying left some scars.

Keith still pushes people away easily, his short temper and uneasiness around new situation gets the best of him from time to time. He is worried that his soulmate might not want to cope with Keith’s hot-headedness, or the witty remarks he can’t stop from time to time, especially when he’s tired or stressed out.

Keith sighs and leaves the flowers be for now, takes out his phone instead to text his partner for his class project, Hunk. They were supposed to meet almost twenty minutes ago to study for their physics exam, and it’s unusual for the big guy to be anything but on time.

Like the few texts he sent previously, the latest ones don’t even get through. Keith starts to worry. Just as he’s about to text Pidge and ask if she knew something about her friend’s whereabouts, a voice from his side interrupts him.

“Hey, are you Keith?”

Keith looks up, straight into the ocean blue eyes of the stranger standing next to him. His breath gets caught in his throat as the tingling of the flowers on his arm spreads through his whole body, leaving him with a warm, fluttering feeling in his stomach.

He looks at the flowers with surprise, then back at the strangers, who mirrors his look. His eyebrows rise high, almost reaching the tips of his brown, curly hair, and his pretty lips are parted slightly. He’s looking at the flowers on his arm as well, a bunch of deep red carnations that take up his whole lower arm.

Keith catches himself first, inhales sharply which jerks the stranger into action as well. “You are-“

“You are my soulmate!” the boy interrupts with a loud whisper, mindful that they are in a library, but still jumping in excitement, his arms thrown into the air and his smile brighter as the sun. “I finally found you!”

Keith can’t do anything but stare as the other does a little victory dance. The boy catches himself soon after and plops himself on the chair right next to Keith. His bright smile doesn’t dim at all, even when Keith remains quiet.

His mind is blank, he doesn’t know what to say, can’t even form a coherent thought with the beauty sitting right next to him; that beauty who is also his soulmate. The tingle on his arm lightens up for a second, but as soon as the boy stretches out his hand towards Keith it starts all over again.

“I’m Lance,” he introduces himself.

Keith looks down at the hand, at the red carnations right under it, before he slowly takes it.

“Keith,” he murmurs lowly.

“I know,” Lance answers, but his mind is elsewhere as he’s currently mesmerized by Keith’s soulmark. He’s staring at the delicate forget-me-nots, the long stem connecting the flowers and the green leaves around them.

“How do you-“

“Hunk sends me,” Lance interrupts, eyes now moving up to Keith’s face.

Keith’s blushes under his attentive look. He can hardly look at Lance’s face without the blushing spreading even further. He feels hot all over, and his heart is beating so fast, like it never has before.

“You know Hunk?” Keith presses out, his voice timid, but he doesn’t care. Lance is still focused on him, smiling so hard that his cheeks must hurt by now.

“Yeah,” Lance nods, “he sent me to tell you that he can’t come today.”

“Okay…”

Keith swallows, and takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. Lance leans back in his chair but is still holding on to his hand. They’re arms are connected just like the soulmarks on them, and Keith is sure Lance can feel the same tingle all over his body, just like Keith does.

“I’m glad he sent me,” Lance whispers.

“Yeah,” Keith smiles now, and squeezes the fingers intertwining with his own, “me too.”

Lance scoots a bit closer, and Keith lets him. The flowers on his arms feel like they are blooming under his skin, happy to have found their counterpart. Just like Keith’s feeling right now, the warmth blooming in his chest, happy to have finally found his soulmate.


	15. College

“Uuuuuugh,” Lance groans as he sags on his back, looking up to the ceiling while he stretches his legs over the floor. “I am dying.”

Hunk takes some pity on him and pets his leg, managing a few encouraging pats without even looking up from his book. “You can do this!” he says after a few moments, probably not even realizing it by how engrossed he is in his studies.

“Pidge, kill me.”

“I’d rather not go to jail for that.” She snorts behind him.

Lance pouts at her. “I doubt they’ll ever catch you.”

Pidge looks over her glasses with a meaningful, meaning refusing, expression.

Keith watches the whole scene with amusement. It’s a few hours into their late night cram session for the last few exams of the year, and he feels his patience running just as low as Lance’s energy. Anything that distracts him from the dread of the upcoming day is very welcome.

Pidge sits on his bed, the only one not cramming on the floor of Lance’s and his dorm room. She already finished all of her exams, but still needs to submit one big programming projects before she’s can excuse herself into the sweet release of either sleep, death, or summer holidays.

Whichever comes first.

Meanwhile Lance managed to lift himself up again, his head now hanging just inches above his physics book on the coffee table. Just like Keith and Hunk he had switched out the normal seat on his desk hours ago, preferring to stretch himself out of the floor with a pillow under his butt.

“I hate physics,” he whines bitterly. He runs his fingers through his hair, playing with a few curls before getting back to studying.

Keith watches him read the same text passage over and over again. Since he’s done with all the exercises the professor gave them to prepare for the exam, he decides that now is a good time to take a break before starting with his least favorite topic: biology.

Keith leans back on his hands and closes his eyes for a second. The idle typing of Pidge’s keyboard and the almost silent sound of Hunk’s pen moving over paper is almost hypnotic enough to lull him into sleep.

His whole body jerks awake when his lap is suddenly full of brown locks, caramel skin and blue eyes looking up to him. Keith tilts his head at Lance, notices the few moments of keyboard and pen stopping until they pick up again, attention drawn away from the boy on is lap.

“Are you taking a nap?” Lance asks quietly.

“Not really,” Keith answers honestly. “I still have to study biology.”

Lance makes a grimace. “You hate biology.”

Hate is a nice word for his feelings towards the subject, but Keith stays quiet. He prefers to take one of Lance’s curls and twirl it between his fingers until it looks even wilder than before.

“I have an idea,” Lance says after a while, head still not moving from Keith’s lap.

Keith looks around the room. Hunk and Pidge are still engrossed into their projects, or at least good enough at acting like it. But he doesn’t really care if they listen to Lance’s and his little talk, since they are kind of used to it already. The perks of spending so much time together.

Keith looks back at Lance. “Shoot.”

Lance grins up at him, probably already convinced of his own idea. “You hate my favorite subject, and I hate yours.”

“If you propose that I cheat on your exam and write it for you, then you can forget it right away,” Keith frowns. He doesn’t tell Lance that he already thought about it for the last three days.

Lance pouts for a few seconds, holding Keith’s stare until he lets out a deep sigh. “Well, then I have another plan.”

Keith eyes him warily, but the soft curl in his hand and the little glint in Lance’s eyes pull him in. “Shoot.”

“I help you study, and you help me.”

“That’s actually a pretty good plan,” Keith concludes, earning a beautiful smile in return.

“Great.” Lance proceeds to not get up. He stretches himself over Keith’s lap before turning on his side, burring his head in Keith’s stomach. “I need a nap first.”

“Uhm…” Keith stares at him dumbfounded, fighting his raising blush as well as the butterflies in his belly. “A-are you going to nap here?”

“Yeah.” Lance states, opening one eye to look up at him with a pleading look. “Do you mind?”

“No, it’s okay.”

Lance closes his eyes again and snuggles into Keith’s lap. After a few minutes his breath evens out. There is no reaction when Keith pokes his cheek, so he must be really asleep.

Keith rests his elbows on the table and hides his hot cheeks in his hands. He ignores Pidge stupid snicker, or the sound of her camera app taking a few pictures. Only when his phone vibrates in pocket, he sends her a deathly look, but it does nothing. She doesn’t even notice it as she’s already back to typing on her computer.

Keith takes his phone from the pocket at the back of his pants and opens the pictures Pidge sent him, saving all of them into his little ‘Lance’ folder before opening his camera app and taking a few more from his perspective.

_Blackmail material_ , Keith thinks, knowing full well that this is a lie he keeps telling himself. At least until he’s ready to admit his crush on his roommate and best friend.


	16. Thunderpike

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I described Thunderstorm Darkness as I saw him on a picture [ ikimaru](http://ikimaru.tumblr.com) drew of him.

The pretty boy dangling in one of Thunder’s traps ten feet above the ground is a hilarious sight, but Thunder can’t enjoy it because the boy is so damn annoying.

“Oi, half-elf!” he keeps on shouting with a pout. His tail is flicking franticly while his ears are laid flat on his head, a clear sign that he is just as pissed off as Thunder is. “Come on, kitty!”

“I’m not a cat,” Thunder answers cocky, “you are!” He crosses his arms over his chest and frowns up to the boy in his trap, still wondering what he should do with him.

That boy isn’t supposed to be here in the first place. The woods belong to Thunder and his family, the land part of the elven kingdom and therefore forbidden for anyone but elves. Especially sneaky cat-hybrid thieves.

“You have cat-like ears!” The boy grins now, and Thunder can feel his ears twitch at the accusation.

“I don’t!”

He doesn’t. His ears and the rest of his body may be covered in soft fur, but they are purple, and not brown or black, and they are at the side of his head, not at the top. Seriously, the cat-hybrid looks more like a cat than Thunder does, and he should know it.

“Anyway, kitty,” the boy purrs now, “help me down here.”

And Thunder really considers it for a second. It’s been a while after all since he met someone in this forest who can actually speak. Living alone here is boring sometimes, and even though he has enough animals as friends who keep him entertained, it would sure be nice to talk to someone else for once instead.

But this boy is so, _so_ annoying.

“No way, it’s your own fault you got stuck in this trap,” Thunder answers after a moment, and he watches with amusement how the tail of the boy starts flickering even quicker than before. The pout is back as well, and the boy tries his best to cross his arms over his chest in the narrow space the net gives him.

“I can’t help it, stealing things is in my nature,” he tries to defend himself, his voice all whiny and grating on Thunders nerves.

“Maybe you should defy your nature if it comes to stealing things from rangers like me,” Thunder says with a frown. He doesn’t even know why he still bothers trying to talk to that guy. Sure, he’s the first person Thunder has spoken to in the last three months, and aside from his stupid pout he looks unbelievingly cute, but stuff like this has never affected him before. Why should it now?

“You shouldn’t even be in this forest.”

“I got lost,” the boy explains with a shrug, his eyes moving from Thunder over the vast forest around them, as if he was looking for something, or even worse, someone.

Thunder’s eyes follow the boy’s gaze, trying to let his elf-senses reach behind the expanses of the trees to search for another soul. Besides the usual animals and other magical beings, he can’t make anything out though.

His eyes fall back on the boy, who is already staring at him. His ears are dropped low, and his tail is hanging loosely between the net. He looks like a dog that was left out in the pouring rain by its owners.

He looks lost, and lonely.

But Thunder refuses to let anymore thoughts go to his observations, refuses to feel sorry for a lowly thief and trespasser. Instead he focusses on their current topic. “So, your first thought is to steal stuff from the only person that could get you out of here?”

“Yeah?”

He would laugh if he wasn’t so agitated by that answer. “Okay, then have fun dealing with the consequences.”

Thunder turns on his heels and starts walking towards the two trees that mark a little path back to his cabin. He ignores the sudden rustling of the net, as well as the few outcries from its prisoner.

“Wait, where are you going?”

A few more steps, and Thunder is hidden by a few trees and high bushes. The thick foliage of the forest is perfect for hiding and snooping on things like the boy in the net right now, who is fidgeting so hard that the net has started swinging around.

“No, half-elf, help me out of here!” The boy sounds almost desperate, but after his previous scene and the sheer fact that he tried to steal Thunder’s dagger from him, he decides that the boy can suffer for a little while longer.

 

* * *

 

 

The cat-boy looks like he’s sleeping by his unguarded posture in the cramped net. But Thunder knows that he heard him coming, the twitch of his ears gave him away quickly.

“It’s time to go,” Thunder says to him while pulling out his dagger. The boy’s eyes widen for a second before he sees Thunder walk towards one of the ropes that hold the net in the air.

“So, you’ll let me out of here?” he asks hopefully, fidgeting in the net again as he tries to turn around. But he isn’t very successful, the tight net around him keeps him from getting comfortable, or even just in a proper sitting position.

“Yeah,” Thunder nods a few times, cutting the first of the two ropes that his trap mostly consists off from the tree. “I don’t know if someone is looking for you, and I don’t want any of your friends in my forest.”

“No one will look for me.”

It’s almost too quiet to hear, but with Thunders, ugh, cat-like elven ears, he hears it anyway. He looks up to the boy, noticing that the sad tone in his voice matches the unhappiness reflecting in his eyes.

“What, why? I thought a charming personality like you has millions of friends.”

“I do have friends, thank you very much,” he huffs loudly. The net swings around a bit more, the annoyance replacing the unhappiness quickly. “But we got separated. The plan is to meet up at the next big city, but I got lost along the way. I don’t think the suspect me stuck in the middle of elf-territory.”

While the boy is explaining himself, Thunder walks to the other tree and cuts the second rope. With a small ‘yelp’ the boy lands on his butt, the gracefulness that he should display thanks to his cat-side forgotten when the heavy net lands on him as well.

“Ow!” he whines, rubbing his butt and back furiously, as well as his tail which looks a bit crooked.

Oh well, Thunder can’t help it now. He stifles a laugh and walks up to the boy to open the top of the net and help him out.

“That’s payback,” he says while stretching out his hand for the boy to take.

The boy eyes his hand for a second before accepting it, but the disgruntled look on his face doesn’t vanish for a while. “For what?”

“For annoying me. And for trying to steal my family’s heirloom.”

“I didn’t know it was an heirloom.” The boy’s eyes widen in alarm, and only now Thunder can see that they are blue like the sky reflected in the ocean. They rope him in, and leave him breathless. He almost doesn’t here the next part.

“I wouldn’t have stolen it then. Family is important after all,” the boy says as he dusts off his pants.

Thunder shakes his head slightly to get him back into the present. A thought crosses his mind, and the next words are out before he can even think about it any further. “Come one.”

The boy’s ears perk up. “Where are we going?”

“You said that you have to get to the next big city, right? Well, the biggest one around here is a few day trips away, and I don’t trust you to get there without getting lost again.” Thunder is thankful that the purple fur on his skin hides any blush that follows his offer. He doesn’t need the boy to know just how much he is already affecting him.

Thunder turns towards the path to his cabin, since he still needs to get some stuff before they can head out. A warm hand on his shoulder stops him though.

“Wait,” the boy says, his voice clearly full of wariness. “Are you saying that you’ll take me there?”

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Thunder sighs but doesn’t move away. The hand is so, so warm, and the soft pressure on his shoulder feels nicer than he’d like to admit.

“Thank you so much!” The bright smile erupting on the boy’s face is worth all the trouble he will surely bring Thunder. It’s the first real smile he has seen from the cat-hybrid, and he already craves it like some cold water on a hot day. “I owe you big time, kitty!”

“Ugh, stop calling me that,” Thunder groans instead. He turns back towards the path and takes a few steps. The hand falls from his shoulder, and he is already missing its warmth. “My name is Thunderstorm Darkness. You can call me Thunder.”

“My name’s Pike,” the boy says, falling into step right next to Thunder. He seems to know the way or is at least able to make out the narrow trail between the trees.

Pike’s presence is comfortable next to him, and Thunder starts to realize that these butterflies in his stomach might be a problem.

_A problem for future me_ , he decides after another look at Pike’s ocean blue eyes. Hopefully he’ll know what to do then, because right now, he is totally lost in the warmth of that gaze.


	17. Celebrity

“Uh-oh, I can see you crush,” Allura teases with her sing-song voice. Keith can hardly make her out over the sound of hundreds of camera shutters clicking around them, and the usual shouts from the paparazzi behind the lenses. But she’s still too loud for Keith’s liking, especially since they are in the middle of a red carpet, surrounded by people Keith doesn’t want to know about his feelings.

“Allura!” he hisses lowly, making sure to not cast any attention on himself. He hears Allura chuckle beside him, the hand around his waist pinching him quickly before she puts on her professional face again.

Keith can’t help but let his eyes roam over the many people, his actual job of standing here and looking nice forgotten for a moment until he sees the object of his desire.

Surrounded by reporters and arm in arm with his mother, who he promised to bring to the next big event, Lance is answering one question after another, his thousand-watt smile never faltering as he takes on the next wave of paparazzi.

Every now and then he turns towards him mom, whispering something in her ear that makes her laugh or nod in acknowledgement. The proud look in her eyes grows whenever a new person asks for a statement, a pose, or just a simple autograph for the children at home.

Allura nudges his side with her elbow, giving him a pointed look before smiling at the cameras again.

Right, he has a job to do.

Keith sets up a neutral face. Since he’s not really good with cameras or reporters, he lets Allura guide him through the chaos of the red carpet. He answers a few questions about his last movies, his plans for the future and his brother’s runway show next month but avoid the question about his personal life. Even though he chose the life of a public figure, he tries to keep at least a few details about himself private. The world doesn’t need to know everything that goes through his head.

Especially if it’s about the blue-eyed actor-slash-music star across the carpet.

Allura is pulling him along, and Keith realizes too late where she’s dragging him now. He’s still looking at the long train of her dress, mindful not to step on the delicate fabric, when he bumps into someone behind him.

“Sorry, I-“

The rest of the sentence gets stuck in Keith’s throat, as his brain shuts down when he looks up and sees Lance standing right next to him, looking at him with his sapphire eyes and blinding smile.

“Keith! It’s good to see you, man!” Lance greets him, his voice sending shivers down Keith’s spine. Lance hugs him, holds him tight for a second and lets Keith enjoy the warmth of his breath right next to his ear. He takes a step back and hugs Allura too, before placing his arm around his mom’s shoulders.

“May I introduce you to the best person alive.”

Lance’s mother chuckles, a faint blush adorning her cheeks. Standing so close, Keith can see the similarities in their faces. The blue eyes, the faint freckles, the same beautiful smile. Lance even got her pointy nose and soft, brown curls; all the good traits if you ask Keith.

“Keith, Allura, that’s my mom,” Lance says finally, his smile shining brighter and brighter.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Lance’s mom chimes in, “my name is Rosa, by the way. Lance told me so much about you, it’s like you are already part of the family.”

Keith holds out his hand, but Rosa ignores it and pulls him into a hug instead, just like her son. Seems like personality traits got inherited as well. Keith hugs Rosa back, enjoying the positive energy the woman practically radiates.

“It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am,” Keith says with a smile.

“We heard a lot about you as well, ma’am. Lance loves talking about his family,” Allura says with her most charming smile. Rosa chuckles again, her faint blush covered by her professional make-up, but the bright red tips of her ears give her away. It’s not every day that you meet some famous people, after all.

The sound of shutters stops them from even starting a proper conversation. They pose together for a few minutes until Allura takes it up on herself to entertain the reporters for a while, giving Lance, Keith and Rosa some time to actually talk.

“You two should come to Lance’s birthday party next week!” Rosa says while eyes the paparazzi. The ‘It’s much nicer than here’ goes unsaid, but Keith get what she means.

“Yeah, Hunk and Pidge will be there as well,” Lance adds after a second, “and my whole family would love to meet you!” He chuckles quietly, and the tips of his ears are starting to turn red as well. Lance scratches his neck and takes a step closer to Keith. “My sisters have been pestering me for the last few months to bring you guys over.”

Rosa hushes Lance and swaps his arm. The gesture goes with a laugh, probably from years and years of doing it to everyone of the family. Lance grins at his mother, and as Allura gets back, he lets Rosa wander off with her.

Lance and Keith follow close behind them, since Lance doesn’t seem to comfortable to let his mother alone in this chaos. They have to walk close to each other to hear what the other is saying. They are so close that their arms are brushing together; Keith could even take Lance’s hand if he dared to, and if there were a few less camera pointed on them.

When they finally leave the red carpet behind them and enter the big hallway of the venue, Rosa and Allura are already a few meters ahead of them.

Lance lowers his voice to match the almost silent atmosphere around them. His hand brushes over Keith’s, the touch far too quick for anyone but Keith to notice, since he is hyper focused whenever Lance is standing next to him.

“Will you come?” he asks with a sheepish smile.

Keith feels like he’s melting into the floor. His knees get weak at the beautiful sight of Lance McClain pearly smile getting all shy from that simple question. How could Keith ever deny him?

“Yeah, I’d love to,” he answers just as quiet, his smile matching Lance’s, even as it brightens like the sun. And suddenly there is a hand in his, fingers intertwining and squeezing his own, and butterflies in his stomach flying somersaults in excitement. What a wonderful feeling.


	18. Childhood Friends

The mango ice cream in his hand is melting quicker than he can lick it, and a few drops already run down his arm. Keith frowns at his ice cream, than at the sun, but it doesn’t really help. The sun won’t stop shining and his ice cream won’t stop melting, so he just tries to keep up with the falling droplets.

His eyes move over the small garden of his backyard. He is sitting in the grass right now, in the shadow of the oak that his grandparents planted here years ago, and right next to the fence that connects his backyard with the McClain’s.

There is a spot a few feet away of him that is barren of any grass, since Lance uses this spot to jump over the fence every day. His mother scolds him whenever she sees him doing it, which is almost every day, but Lance is too lazy to walk around the block to Keith’s house, and hasn’t managed to convince their parents yet to build in a gate or something like that.

A ‘huff’ next to him jerks Keith out of his thoughts. Lance lands as graceful as ever on the grass-less ground, a huge grin on his face that get even brighter as he spots Keith sitting under the tree.

“You’re late,” Keith says with a pout. He has been waiting here long enough for his mother to take some pity on him and give him some ice cream. Oh, wait, now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t mind waiting after all.

“Sorry, sorry,” Lance answers quickly, stepping into the shadow of the tree and taking a seat next to Keith. “But my brother came over with a huge announcement, and my mom would have killed me if I had missed that.”

“What did he announce?” Keith asks, his anger already forgotten over the excitement of some news. Summer holidays tend to get boring sometimes, even if Lance and him try to do something together every day.

“My brother is getting married to his girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Keith says, mildly disappointed. He had hoped for something more exciting.

Lance is almost jumping, even though he is still sitting from the floor. His eyes are gleaming with happiness and his voice is high and fast as he retells Keith everything that Marco and his parents have discussed before.

“And since I’m eight now, he said I can be the ring bearer,” he finishes his story. Lance eyes Keith for a few seconds and crooks his head. “Do you want to get married sometimes?”

Keith looks up from the rest of his ice cream to give Lance a confused look. “Don’t I need a girlfriend for that?”

“My sister said that I can marry a boy or a girl, whatever I prefer,” Lance shrugs, before settling to sit right next to Keith instead of in front of him, leaning against the tree and bumping their legs together.

Keith thinks about it for a while. He knows that Lance’s parents are married for many, many years now, but he doesn’t really think that he wants to marry just anyone, especially not the people from his class. “I don’t want to marry a stranger.”

“Well, you get to know them first, obviously,” Lance rolls his eyes and nudges his shoulder.

Keith frowns. Even the thought of doing that doesn’t sit well with him. “I don’t like meeting new people.”

“I know.” Lance sighs and closes his eyes. Keith takes a look at him, notices that Lance’s eyebrows are furrowed and his tongue is sticking out. It’s his ‘thinking-face’, at least that’s what Veronica calls it. When Lance opens his eyes again, he looks like he has a brilliant idea. “You know me though.”

“Are you saying that we should get married?” Keith asks carefully. He likes the thought of marrying Lance more than marrying a stranger. When they are married, they can live in a house together, eat a lot of cake and ice cream and don’t have to part in the evening when their parents say that playtime is over.

“Yeah, we should!” Seems like Lance has the same thought, even though he adds a few things. “We know each other, and we like each other, and we can marry even though we are both boys.”

Keith nods to every point, totally agreeing with Lance on this thing.

“And we can have a mango ice cream cake for our wedding!” Lance concludes, and Keith’s mouth already starts to water from the thought of it.

“Okay, I guess I will marry you then.” His bright smile matches Lance’s, and they end their discussion with a pinky-promise that is a bit sticky, since Keith’s hands are still full of melted mango ice cream. He really can’t wait for his wedding with Lance.


	19. Canon Divergence

The sun is already setting when Keith finally finds Lance on the rooftop of the Garrison. He has been searching for him the whole afternoon, even got concerned when he realized that Lance skipped out on dinner to stay hidden from anyone.

No one knew where he went. Veronica pointed out some of his favorite spots she knew of but he was in none of them. Even Hunk and Pidge couldn‘t tell him when he asked them, and Allura looked really uncomfortable and told Keith that Lance would probably prefer to be alone right now.

And Keith really considered stopping his search, but something told him that Allura wasn‘t right with her assumption, even if she is closer to Lance due to being his girlfriend and all. Because Lance hardly ever wants to be alone, even when he is sick, or crying, or just generally annoyed at every single one of them, he rarely spends any time with himself.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asks as soon as he steps up behind Lance. He receives a shrug, not even a ‚hello‘ or anything, which does not sit right with him.

As he takes a seat right next to Lance and lets his feet dangle over the low roof, he notices the redness of Lance‘s eyes, his sniffling and a few stray tears on cheeks.

“Just thinking,“ Lance responds quietly, his voice hoarse and lips dry and chapped.

Keith sits a bit closer and leans forward, so he can look at Lance properly, not just from the side. “What happened?” he asks carefully.

Lance wipes his eyes with his sleeves, the fabric already darkened from crying before Keith arrived. There are more tears in his eyes when he finally looks at Keith. “Allura and I broke up.”

“Oh.” That‘s not what Keith expected. That‘s definitely not what Keith expected, at all. Shit. What should he do? What should he say? He doesn‘t have any experience with break ups, or consoling people, especially not the people he cares about. In the end, he blurts out the first thing that seems appropriate. “I’m sorry.”

Lance huffs. “Don’t be. It’s okay.” He probably already guessed that Keith is the worst person to comfort him right now, but he gives Keith a small smile anyway. It quickly turns into a grimace though, and Lance adverts his eyes to the sunset in front of them. “I knew from the beginning that this wouldn’t last.”

Keith raises an eyebrow at that, multiple question shooting through his head. “What do you mean?”

“I’m just a rebound.“ Lance says it so casually and even combines it with a shrug, that Keith almost believes it for a second. But the tears that are falling down his cheeks again and collecting on his sleeves tell him a different story.

Keith sighs and looks at the sunset as well. “Lance-“

“Don’t deny it. You know it’s true,“ Lance interrupts. A few hicups wreck his body, but his eyes stay skywards. “I knew that as well when I asked her out. I saw how much he meant to her after all.”

Lance sighs as well and runs his fingers through his hair. Only now Keith realizes that his brown curls are a mess, sticking into every direction. “I just hoped that I could make her as happy as he did. But I couldn’t.”

“That’s not true.” Keith sees that Lance wants to deny it again, but he won‘t let him this time. “You did everything you could to make her happy,“ Keith insists, placing his hand on Lance knee and squeezing slightly.

“Yeah, but I was just not enough,“ Lance whispers.

And Keith‘s heart breaks a little, because he hears the unspoken words, the insecurities and toxic thoughts that cross Lance‘s mind more often than he admits. It hurts Keith to know that Lance sees himself like this, and that the break up just amplifies this feeling.

Even Allura notices how Lance feels, asking if Keith knew about it and what they could do to help him. But in the end, they could do nothing but wait until Lance comes to one of them to talk, like he did back in the castle after they got Shiro back.

Keith feels like he was not able to help Lance back then. He took Lance‘s worries lightly, because he didn‘t know how to deal with them but he had a lot of time to think about it by now.

“You are enough,“ Keith says with conviction. „You are more than enough, Lance. Just because she didn’t love you like you loved her doesn’t mean you are not worth it.”

Lance looks at Keith, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes full of doubt. Keith takes a deep breath before he continues. “You deserve to be loved fully and entirely.“ He places his hand on Lance‘s and shuffles a bit closer. He tries to erase the doubt in Lance‘s eyes with his own confidence, tries to get his face to show exactly what Lance needs to see right now: earnest and sincere love.

“Allura couldn’t give you that, but there is someone out there who can,“ he says next, and ignores the slight heat in his cheeks when he adds, “Maybe even closer than you think.”

Lance sniffles again, uses his sleeve to catch another stray tear and moves his fingers under Keith‘s hand so they can intertwine. He‘s blushing as well, even though Keith can hardly see it in the moonlight. But it‘s there, and Lance sounds a lot less doubtful when he asks, “You think so?”

Keith squeezes his fingers. “Yeah, I do.”

“Thank you, Keith.” Lance lets out a breathy laugh and blinks away some tears. “Ugh, I don’t deserve you, you always know how to pick me up,“ he says with a chuckle.

Keith smiles at him. “Well, you do the same for me all the time, so I think we’re even.”

“Yeah.” Lance squeezes his fingers, but before Keith can even react to it, Lance‘s hand is gone, and he‘s slowly standing up. Keith watches Lance‘s smile form to a smirk. “We are a good team, after all.”

“What?” Keith is stunned for a moment. “Lance, did you- did you just-“ Eyes wide and mouth open, he watches Lance walk away with a little snicker. The laugh jerks Keith out of his stun and he jumps to his feet to follow him. “Wait, Lance!”

There is no chance that Keith is letting Lance get away with this.


	20. Leakira

The club is filled to the brim with people from all kinds of backgrounds. Leandro can make out some people in expensive suits and dresses, adorned with jewelry and watches that probably cost more than what he makes in a year with his different jobs in the underground.

He pays them no mind though, because the only two people he is interested in are the bartender who is preparing his drinks and his boyfriend in one of the booths in the far corner of the club. As soon as he has his drinks in his hand he turns towards said boyfriend, only to see another guy sitting right next to him.

Too close, if you asks Leandro, and definitely not with nice intentions with the way Akira is frowning at that guy. It‘s a miracle that Akira hasn‘t pulled a knife or gun on that guy yet, because he did when Leandro tried to flirt with him the first time.

He makes his way through the mass of dancing people, careful not to spill any of the expensive drinks in his hands, only to slam them down on the table as soon as he reaches the booth. The guy flinches a bit, but doesn‘t even turn away from Akira, even though Akira is clearly not listening to him anymore.

„Excuse me, good sir,“ Leandro starts, fake smile on his face as he places a hand on that guys shoulder and squeezes it so hard that the guy flinches.

„What?“ he grunts, and even from the distance Leandro can notice the smell of alcohol in his breath.

Seriously, how did Akira stay so calm until now?

With that guy‘s attention on him, Leandro swiftly moves one side of his knee-long jacket to show what‘s underneath. The guy‘s eyes widen at the sight of the two pistols, as well as the dagger Akira gave him as a anniversary gift.

His eyes move up to Leandro‘s face now, his intoxicated brain visibly rattling as he puts one and one together. Akira‘s white hair, the little scar above Leandro‘s eyebrows as well as the blue and white pistols on his belt usually give them away pretty quickly. That‘s why Leandro and Akira can only visit clubs and bars from the underground after all.

„So-sorry!“ the guy stammers, quickly getting up from the booth and promptly tripping over his own feet. Leandro moves out of the way, and the guy gets lost pretty quickly after he picks himself up from the ground with another apology.

When Leandro is sure that the guy left the bar for good, he turns around and takes the free seat right next to Akira. He watches his boyfriend take a few sips from the drink, a carefully neutral expression on his face that perplexes Leandro even more than the fact that Akira didn‘t get rid of that guy on his own.

„What was all that about?“ Leandro asks finally, the whole situation bothering him more than he would like to admit.

„What do you mean?“ Akira asks, voice just as innocent as his face.

Leandro sighs. „You know exactly what I mean. Why didn‘t you take care of that guy?“

„Because I saw you coming over with the drink.“

„That never stopped you before,“ Leandro points out while taking a sip from his own drink. The bitter whiskey makes him shudder for a moment, and he feels the liquid run down his throat, leaving it burning for a few seconds.

Akira looks sheepish all of a sudden. His violet eyes get illuminated by the red and blue lights of the club, and his hair changes colors whenever a headlight hits him. He looks ethereal, too pretty for this club, and most certainly too pretty for the underground.

Leandro counts himself lucky to be the object of Akira‘s affection, and thanks whatever guardian angel he has that he gets to spend almost every day with him. Love in the underground usually doesn‘t last long, but Leandro has a feeling that someone means well for the both of them, even if Akira confuses the hell out of him sometimes.

„I just didn‘t want to risk a fight,“ Akira answers finally, his voice now as sheepish as his expression. His eyes are trained on the table and back hunched over, making his pony-tail get lost in the collar of his biker jacket. Akira‘s hand moves up to play with the goggles on his head, a present from Leandro, and he only looks at him when Leandro intertwines their fingers.

„That didn‘t stop you before either,“ Leandro teases lowly, moving closer to whisper the words into Akira‘s ear. He can see the alcohol, as well as the sudden closeness take some affect from the blush on Akira‘s pale cheeks.

Akira sighs, his eyes finally moving to meet Leandro‘s curious gaze. „I didn‘t want us to get kicked out of your favorite club,“ he admits at least.

„Aw, babe!“ Leandro grins, and places a kiss on the blush of his cheeks. „Do you still feel guilty for getting us kicked out of my favorite bar?“

„Well,“ Akira murmurs, „of course I do if you remind me every day.“

Leandro laughs into his drink before he shuffles closer to Akira to throw his arm over Akira‘s shoulder. He places a kiss on his white hair, right next to his ear. „Thank you for not starting a fight,“ he whispers into the soft curls and against the piercings in Akira‘s ear.

„You‘re welcome,“ Akira grunts, hiding his deepening blush behind his own glass. He‘s not really used to Leandro‘s affection yet, even though they‘ve been together for a few years now. He openly relishes every single touch and confession though, especially since they‘re underground jobs tend to be on the dangerous side, and they always live with the thought that the next moment could be their last one together.

Akira intertwines his fingers with Leandro‘s hand hanging from his shoulder and turns his head to press their lips together. His kiss is forceful and raw, and so, so hot, just like Akira‘s personality.

Leandro kisses him back with a smile on his lips. The feeling of Akira‘s gentle touches leave him with goosebumps, and the knowledge that Akira loves him enough to endure some stupid guys flirting without starting a fight makes his heart swell with love.

He doesn‘t know how much more time the universe will give them together, so he tries to enjoy the small things with Akira. Mornings spend in bed, late night tours on Akira‘s motorcycle, the adrenaline-rush of finishing a mission together, and of course the heated kisses on hip lips and skin that he wouldn‘t trade for anything in this world.


	21. Crossover - ATLA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More like ~~Crossover~~ \- ATLA, because it's not really a crossover, but an AU.

„You never went penguin sliding?“ Lance asks loudly, the shock in his voice mirrored on his face. With a huff he turns back around and spurs Blue to run a bit faster. The polar bear dog barks happily before she picks up speed.

„There are no penguins in the fire nation,“ Keith points out, his face pressed into the collar of Lance‘s coat as he tries to hold on as tight as possible. He doesn‘t want to fall off Blue, and with the way she avoids some lumps of ice and holes in the snow, he wonders how he is still on her back anyway.

In the distance he can see the towers of the southern water tribe vanish behind low mountains of ice and snow. They are pretty far away by now, much further than Keith ever dared to go alone, but with Lance by his side he is not afraid.

He is excited.

Because it‘s the first time that he snuck out from his quarters in the middle of the day, only leaving Shiro a message that he can kindly stick his stupid training regimen in his butt. He hasn‘t had a free day since arriving to the south pole after all, and Keith doesn‘t think that he would have ever been granted that luxury until he has finished his training in becoming a full fledged water bender.

„I guess you are right,“ Lance answers after a few moments, his breath forming into clouds as soon as they leave his mouth. Keith doesn‘t know how Lance manages to walk around without a head or face mask, since the cold temperatures make his own skin freeze over in a matter of minutes, even during the day.

But even with the freezing wind running through his hair, Lance doesn‘t stop smiling so bright that even the sun can‘t compete with it. Keith feels his cheeks burn under the thick scarf Lance has wrapped him up with, but they are not burning from the cold.

„But they should give you a few more breaks,“ Lance continues while slowing Blue down when they are out of eyesight from the village, „since you are the Avatar.“

Lance turns in his seat again, his cheeks rosy and his hair ruffled and sticking up, the tips covered in ice and little snowflakes. His skin is glowing in the sun, and he truly looks like he belongs here, in the middle of snow, ice, glaciers and the ocean that meets the horizon in the distance.

Keith shrugs as an answer, since they had this conversation a couple of time before, never coming to a conclusion. Of course he wishes for more breaks, a little bit more time to spend with the few people he can call friends and family, but the burden of responsibilities are heavy on his shoulders, and he knows that before everything else, as the Avatar has to fulfill his duties before he can think of anything else, like hobbies, friendships, and love.

Lance leads Blue towards a big glacier in the distance. The ice looks like it tries to reach the sky, and it‘s walls reflect the sunlight with the most prettiest shades. The light plays on Lance‘s dark skin and make his eyes sparkle like waves in the blue sea.

They ride in silence, Blue‘s little huffs and her heavy steps in the snow the only sounds they hear for quite a while. Keith has no idea where they are by now, only knows that even with his bending he probably wouldn‘t be able to make it back if Lance decided to just drop him off right here.

Thankfully, he knows that Lance would never do something like that. Even though they don‘t know each other for long, Keith trusts Lance with his life, and appreciates that Lance does the same, as multiple battles have proven before. They fight a lot, and bicker whenever they feel like it, but in the end of the day, they are there for each other, no matter what happens.

Especially when Keith needs someone to sneak out with him.

Blue‘s low bark jerks him out of his thoughts. They arrived uphill from a big clearing, which is filled with black-and-white animals with four wings and cute little snouts.

„Those are otter penguins,“ Lance says before he jumps of Blue and holds out his hand to help Keith down as well.

Keith is glad that he manages not to stumble into Lance‘s chest, because his legs feel like jelly after riding for such a long time. Instead he focuses on their connected hands when Lance moves on to bring them closer to the flock of penguins.

„How are we gonna ride on them?“ Keith asks with a frown. From the distance the animals look weak and delicate, and he‘s afraid that he will crush them if he gets to close to them.

Lance seems to catch his thought, and he laughs loudly before he moves around Blue to take the bag he connected to her saddle when they left the village. He opens the bag to show Keith a bunch of dried meat and fish inside, as well as some of the seaberries they had for breakfast in the morning.

„First of all, you have to gain there trust,“ Lance explains, taking one of the fish out and waving it in the air for the penguins to see. A few seem to notice the treat, and they waddle closer without any hesitance. As soon as they reach the group, Lance bends down to give out a few snacks, before he hands Keith the bag to do the same.

The penguins avoid him for only a moment until they realize that Keith is offering food as well. Soon they surround him and greedily wait for Keith to fish out the next treat from the bag, trying to snatch it out of his hands before he can even get his hand out of the bag.

Lance is laughing beside him, probably because of the slight fear in Keith‘s eyes. The penguins are much bigger from up closer, and now Keith can see that their bodies are not as fragile as he believed them to be. They look well fed and strong enough to hold Lance and Keith on their backs without any problem.

„What is the next step?“ Keith asks when the bag is empty. They are still surrounded by penguins, even though the animals seem to mind their own business without any treat waiting for them. Keith feels a bit more comfortable now that the attention is not on him anymore.

Lance takes his gloves off and steps closer to him. Keith lets him take his hand and pull off his own gloves before Lance gently guides their hands towards the penguin right in front of them. He holds their hands still so the penguin can take in their smells, and after it deemed them friendly, it presses it‘s cold snout into their hands and demands some pats.

„Oh,“ Keith breaths out, totally mesmerized by the feeling of the cold snout in his palm and the hot hand surrounding his own. He spread his fingers and Lance intertwines them gently.

„The next step,“ Lance murmurs close to Keith‘s ear, sending shivers through his whole body and making his cheeks flame up again, „is to convince them that a ride would be fun.“

„How do we do this?“ Keith asks just as low, trying to keep his eyes on the penguin and not on the boy standing so, so close to him.

„We can‘t really convince them,“ Lance answers, stepping even closer to Keith so his chest is flush with Keith‘s back. There are several layers of clothes between them, but Keith‘s back still feels hot from the touch. „They have to be in the mood for it.“

„In the mood?“

„Yeah,“ Lance breathes right into his ear, „they have to want it.“

Keith feels like he will catch on fire every second now with the way his whole body is burning thanks to Lance. The cold snout leaves his palm, but Lance‘s hand stays where it is, fingers still intertwined and dangling between them now.

Keith watches the penguin waddle a few steps away from them, the flock splitting to give it some space. When it reaches the slope it turns a few times until it plops on his stomach and sends a look towards them.

„See, he wants it,“ Lance chuckles lowly, and he uses the hold on Keith to push him towards the penguin and onto it‘s back. He lets Keith‘s hand go give him back his glove and secure his hands on the soft fur on the penguin.

Keith misses the touch immediately, but doesn‘t pay it too much mind when Lance finds another willing penguin and takes a seat right next to him, smile still brighter than the sun and the glint of a challenge in his eyes.

„Are you ready?“ he asks teasingly, probably with another challenge on his lips but Keith doesn‘t let him get that far. With a grin Keith leans forward and feels the penguin move with him down the hill, taking off and quickly leaving Lance behind him.

„I‘m ready!“ he shouts when he is halfway down the hill, his laugh echoing between the euphoric screams of Lance behind him. It doesn‘t matter that he has no idea how to steer the penguin, or how to get off when they reach the end of the slope. He just needs to trust Lance to show him all those things later on.


	22. High School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one consists of three parts, since I wrote and posted the first and got motivated by a comment to keep on writing.

The classroom is almost silent when Keith enters. Only a few students are here, as well as the teacher that is assigned to watch over the detention session. Keith gives said teacher the note he got during his math class earlier that day and turns around to search for a seat in the back of the room.

He knows some of the people here. The guy in the first row is in his football team, and he has history with the girl next to the windows. Keith passes them and catches a glance at caramel skin and brown curls, blue eyes staring out of the window.

Keith stops for a second, not having expected Lance to be here as well. Lance is usually a honor student, acing all classes and getting along with teachers and students alike, and Keith would never have thought that Lance is able to do something that would get him into detention.

Instead of the last row he aims for the seat right next to Lance now. He takes his notebook and some books from his bag and eyes the teacher for a second, but he isn‘t paying attention to the students at all.

Lance isn‘t paying attention as well, so he only notices Keith sitting next to him when Keith accidentally bumps into him. Lance turns around and watches Keith for a second, his eyes moving over the homework Keith has taken out the bag as well as all the free tables around them. In the end he looks out of the window again, his gaze distant and bored.

Keith could use the two hours in detention to finish the essay he has to submit next week, or just the homework for tomorrow, but all he can think of is the boy sitting next to him and the little note he is writing right now.

Keith checks again to make sure that no one is watching before he pushes his notebook against Lance‘s elbow. Lance turns around immediately, and annoyed look in his eyes and lips parted to start one of their usual bickering, but he stops himself when Keith‘s points to the text on the notebook.

_What did u do to get detention?_

Lance reads the text with raised eyebrows before looking up at Keith again. He shoots a glance towards the distracted teacher before he grabs the blue pen Keith is holding out for him and scribbles an answer.

_Got into a fight._

Keith raises an eyebrow and looks from the text to Lance and back at the text. He has a million questions, but most importantly:

_Did u win?_

Lance chuckles quietly, a breathless laugh hidden behind his hand so they don‘t get caught. Talking is not allowed in detention after all, and neither of them want to spend the next afternoon in his classroom for that.

When Lance writes again, Keith uses the time to take a good look at him. His face is unhurt, at least the side Keith is able to see, but there are bruises on his knuckles and a scratch on his arm. The red stands out on his usually unblemished skin, and Keith feels himself get angry at whoever did this to him.

_The teachers caught us before it could get too serious._

Keith points to the bruises on Lance‘s hand, but Lance just waves it off with a smile. Keith frowns at him before he picks up his pen.

_You should get that treated._

Lance reads the words and pulls the notebook a bit closer.

_It‘s nothing._ After Keith frowns again, he adds, _I get worse scratches from my nephew and my cat._

Keith isn‘t really happy about that either, but he knows that he is in no position to fight Lance on that. They are barely friends thanks to Pidge and Hunk, and Keith doesn‘t want to risk the fragile thing they have between them.

He doesn‘t want to stop talking to Lance either, so he tries a topic that‘s on the safer side.

_You have a cat?_

Lance practically blooms when he reads the message and sends a blinding smile towards Keith. He quickly takes his pen and starts writing and drawing pictures of a little kitten.

_Her name is Blue,_ Lance starts, _we found her in a box behind my brother‘s restaurant. I had to beg my parents to let me keep her, but it was totally worth it. She is the cutest little thing, and likes to cuddle and always sits on my lap when I‘m studying or doing homework._

Keith reads it with a smile and traces the pictures with his fingers. Lance nudges his arm and shows Keith a bunch of photos on his phone, glancing up from time to time to make sure that the teacher isn‘t watching.

Blue is a grey cat, her name probably from the color of her eyes. She has a blue collar with her name imprinted on a heart-shaped tag and the softest fur Keith has ever seen. Lance shows him photos of Blue sleeping on his bed, his chair and even his lap, and a few selfies he did with Blue on his shoulders.

Keith has to stop himself from cooing at the pictures. Not only the cat, but the bright smile of Lance on every photo and the cute little dimples that appear on his face sometimes are the cutest things.

_She‘s really cute._

Lance smiles even brighter and pockets his phone after a few more photos.

_You should meet her, she‘s even better in person._

The prospect of going to Lance‘s house to see his cat send a nervous flutter through Keith‘s stomach. Like he said before, they are barely even friends, and this is probably the first time that they are alone and not fighting. Will they be able to get through a whole afternoon without putting their brittle friendship into danger?

Before Keith can even think of an answer, the teacher calls Lance out and tells him that his detention is over. Lance quickly packs his stuff and slings his bag pack over his shoulder. He‘s about to stand up when he takes Keith‘s pen again and writes a last message on his notebook.

_You really need to meet Blue!! Xxx-xxx-xxxx_

Lance us up and gone before Keith realizes what just happened. He‘s left with a bunch of homework, his unfinished essay and Lance‘s number in his notebook. Oh, and the weird, fluttering feeling deep in his stomach.

 

* * *

 

 

The scratches on his skin still hurt from the semi-violent treatment of the school nurse, and it takes all of Keith‘s patience to not rip the stupid puppy plaster he put on him off. It‘s a curse when the school nurse is your brothers fiancé.

With his mood as sour as lemons, Keith enters the classroom and wordlessly hands the teacher his detention note. It‘s the same teacher as last week, the one that gets too distracted by his book to actually care about the students in the room.

The teacher shortly nods him off before his eyes wander back to the book, so Keith quickly turns around and head for the last row. He is the only one in the room right now, since his class finished early. The rest of the students that fucked up today should come in about thirty minutes or so.

Keith takes his math homework and finishes them quickly before starting on history. His knuckles sting as much as his cheek, but concentrating on his books makes him forget the pain, at least for a few minutes.

His phone vibrates in his pocket, probably Lance or the group chat with Hunk and Pidge, hopefully not Shiro or Adam who will chew them out for starting another fight. He really doesn‘t want to get in trouble with them again, especially since starting fights means house arrest for the rest of the week, even though he planned to meet up with Lance to visit Blue today.

Well, he should probably write Lance and tell him that he will be late.

Keith glances at the teacher, which is kind of useless, because he is so lost in his book that a war could break out outside the classroom and he wouldn‘t notice. Keith takes his phone from his pocket and quickly checks his messages under the table.

The group chat stayed silent, but he does have a few angry looking messages from Shiro, which makes him sigh. _Good bye, freedom_ , he thinks to himself while scrolling through his chat with Lance.

Just as he is about to click on the chat, the door opens, startling Keith and making him hide his phone in a hurry. He looks up from the table only to see Lance enter, a huge pout on his face and a detention note in his hand.

Lance walks over to the teacher and gives him the note before turning around to the classroom. His pout vanishes immediately when he spots Keith, and Keith can feel the corners of his own mouth lift to a bright smile.

With a silent huff Lance sits at the table right next to Keith and get his notebook and some pens from his bag pack. Not even a book, to cover what they are about to do, but the teacher won‘t notice anyway.

Lance quickly scribbles a few words on the notebook before pushing it towards Keith, who has abandoned his homework in order to chat with Lance instead.

_I just texted you that I got detention and will be late._

Keith chuckles quietly. What are the chances of the honor student getting stuck with detention the same day Keith chooses to pick a fight again.

_I guess I‘ll be late, too,_ he writes, lets Lance check the text before writing a bit more. _What did u do today?_

While Lance works on his answer, Keith checks his face and hands for any injuries or bruises, but it seems like he didn‘t pick a fight today.

_I called Mrs Sanda out for her stupid dress code that she puts on the girls, even though Principle Alfor forbid them. We had a huge discussion and she sent me to detention in the end._

Keith frowns at the paper, then at Lance, because Mrs Sanda is in the wrong. It‘s unfair that she punishes Lance for defying rules that shouldn‘t be there to begin with.

Lance seems to get what he‘s thinking, and quickly adds a few lines to the notebook.

_Don‘t worry, Allura is already talking to the vice principle, since all this is bullshit. I‘ll probably get out of here in the next 30 minutes._

That sounds a lot better. Keith pulls the notebook a bit towards himself and starts writing, but Lance‘s hand on his stops him after a moment. When Keith looks up, Lance is frowning at the bruises on his hands. Seems like he only noticed them now.

Keith hopes that Lance isn‘t angry, since he also told him to not start any more fights. But he knows as well that Keith can‘t help himself sometimes. When he sees a freshman getting bullied or a girl getting molested by a guy, Keith can‘t just walk away.

When Lance looks up through, there is no anger in his eyes, only worry. It doesn‘t sit well with Keith either, but he guesses that facing a worried Lance is a lot better than a mad Lance.

Lance takes Keith‘s chin and guides it to the side, so he can see the plaster on his cheek as well. There is a glint of amusement in his eyes, probably from the puppy plaster, but his lips are still pursed, which looks way to cute for Keith‘s liking.

Keith turns his head away before Lance can spot the obvious blush on his cheeks and writes something on the notebook instead.

_I‘ll probably be on house arrest for the rest of the week._

Lance huffs, a little smile back on his lips when he answers.

_We‘ll just have to bribe Shiro into letting us visit you._

Keith smiles at that and enjoys the thought of Lance visiting him at home. He would have to clean his room first, and throw out all the embarrassing drawings and posters of his earlier teenage years, but it would be totally worth it.

_Let‘s hope you‘re good at bribing then._

Lance puffs his chest at those words, his smile turning teasing and the worry finally gone from his eyes.

_I have Blue and my mom‘s cooking. That should be enough._

A cough from the front makes both of them glance up quickly. Seems like they got too invested in their talk, because for once the teacher is not looking at the book, but Keith and Lance instead.

They scatter away from each other and focus on the books in front of them. After a second Lance grabs his physics book from his bag pack, since there is nothing but the notebook and some pens on the table.

Whenever Keith glances up, the teacher is staring at them with a stern look. His book sits on the table, the bookmark on top of it, so he probably finished it and has nothing better to do than his actual job.

Too bad, since detention gets a lot more boring like this. Keith gets back on his history homework, and when that is done, he starts with science. Whenever he manages to shoot a quick glance towards his side, he sees Lance totally engrossed by his physics homework, frowning at the paper like it hurt him on a personal level.

About half an hour later, the door opens and the vice principal enters to have a word with the teacher. Keith and Lance share a look before Lance gets send off with an apology and the promise that the principal will have a word with Mrs Sanders.

Just before Lance closes the door behind him, he sends a wink at Keith and holds his fingers on his ear like a phone.

With a smile, Keith quickly gets back to his homework. He knows that as soon as the teacher releases him, he will have to deal with the wrath of his brother as well a week full of house arrest and extra chores at home, but he doesn‘t really mind.

Lance will probably see it as a challenge to get Shiro to let him visit Keith, even if it‘s just for an hour or so, and honestly? Keith thinks that an hour with Lance, and maybe even Blue, makes totally up for the week stuck at home.

 

* * *

 

 

It was such a bad idea from the beginning, but Pidge has too much blackmail material on him for Keith to deny them anything. It‘s just kind of mean that he was the only one that got caught but he should have expected the upperclassmen to give at least Keith‘s name to the teachers.

Now he is sitting in detention, phone vibrating with angry messages from Shiro, probably giving him another week of house arrest, even though he didn‘t get into a fight this time. Throwing eggs and rotten tomatoes at the seniors who bullied Hunk earlier this week is still a good enough reason to get Keith in trouble, even if the cause propitiates Shiro at least a little bit.

He sighs at the window, makes sure that he is as quiet as possible, even though the teacher is distracted by a new book and the rest of the students by their homework. Keith doesn‘t have anything to distract him with, since he already did all of his homework for the week, and they don‘t have any tests coming up.

All he can do is to wait out the two hours by staring out of the window and hoping that something interesting might happen, like a fire alarm, or a tornado warning, or even just Lance getting into trouble again just to interlude Keith‘s tedium.

_Right,_ Keith thinks to himself, _as if that would happen three times in a row._

It‘s been a while since Lance got called into detention, and the two times he shared with Keith were the only ones. He‘s a honor student after all, good grades and even better behavior and everything, and fights are more Keith‘s thing.

The door opens and another wave of students trickle into the room. Seems like a lot of people angered the teachers today, since almost all tables are occupied by now.

Someone sits next to Keith with a huff, but he pays them no mind until something nudges the elbow he is resting on the table. Keith turns around with an annoyed frown and has to do a double take when he recognizes that person sitting next to him.

Lance grins at him and points to the notebook, but Keith ignores the text written there to write something else instead.

_What the fuck are you doing here?_

Lance reads the texts and hides a laugh behind his left hand, pointing at the text with his right.

_Pidge told me what happened and got me a fake detention note so I could visit you._

Hundreds of questions pop up in Keith‘s brain, the biggest one why Lance would want to visit him in the first place, but he asks the more important question first.

_Pidge has fake detention notes?_

Lance chuckles lowly. _Pidge got everything you need to cheat yourself through life._

Which sounds kind of ridiculous, but after a month of knowing Pidge and their evil little gremlin brain, Keith believes it immediately. He should have thought of that himself, probably.

Keith ponders over his next question, tries to decide if he really should risk asking why Lance got himself into two hours of detention, since he can‘t really believe that it‘s just to entertain Keith for a while. It‘s two whole hours of chatting and hoping that the teacher doesn‘t finish his book too soon, and even though both of them tend to chat for much longer when they are together, it still seems too much for Keith.

Before Keith can grow some balls and ask the interesting questions, Lance already starts writing on his notebook again.

_I‘m here because I need to ask you something, btw._

Keith raises an eyebrow at him. _Something that can‘t wait for two hours?_

Lance shakes his head a few times. _I‘m not taking chances. Maybe someone else starts writing you secret notes and ends up asking you first._

Keith huffs quietly. As if anyone but Lance would get the idea of chatting with someone in the middle of detention. His eyes move over the rest of the room, and indeed, no one is sitting as close together as Lance and Keith are. The rest of the students are actually doing their homework, and don‘t chat with their neighbor.

_Alright,_ Keith writes finally, _what do you need to ask?_

Lance smile dims a bit, and his cheeks get a bit darker while his whole demeanor gets a bit shy. Huh, Keith hasn‘t seen that side of Lance yet.

Lance concentrates on his writing, so Keith takes the chance to look at him. His skin is a bit darker from staying out in the sun so much the past few weeks, and his freckles really pop out thanks to the tan. The blue of his eyes pop as well, but maybe that‘s just Keith‘s imagination, since he finds himself noticing more and more of Lance‘s effortless beauty lately.

When Lance is finished, he pushes the notebook back to Keith. He has written a whole paragraph with his blue pen, and Keith is eager to read it all.

_So, you probably heard already that prom is coming up, and since we are junior now, we are allowed to go there as well. Hunk is already going with Shay, and Pidge is already the third wheel on most of their dates, so they will probably stick with them for prom as well. So, long story short, I wanted to ask I you would want to go with me to prom?_

The last few words are written so small that Keith has problems reading them, but he gets the message anyway. He takes in the last question, and looks up to Lance still looking all awkward and shy.

_I thought you would want to ask someone out for prom?_ Keith asks instead of answering, because he can‘t help himself but try to ruin something good happening to him. Of course he would like to go to prom with Lance, but he also doesn‘t want to get his hopes up.

Lance purses his lips at Keith‘s text.

_Yeah, that‘s what I‘m doing now._

Before Keith can even get his pen on the paper to clarify his earlier question, Lance pulls the notebook away from him. He writes a few words and pushes it back against Keith‘s arm, a stern look on his face as he taps on the words.

_I‘m asking you out on a date for prom._

And, yeah. Keith‘s traitorous brain can‘t find any other meaning behind that. Keith looks from the text to Lance‘s serious face and back on the text. It takes him a second to actually think of an answer, but when he does, he is quick to scribble it on the paper.

_YES!!_

Lance blooms when he sees the three big letters written next to his last sentence. He hides his big smile behind his hand, his eyes sparkling with joy and his cheeks and the tips of his ears tinted in a cute red.

Keith mirrors his smile and feels his own cheeks burn up. He glad that the rest of the room ignores the two of them, lets them enjoy the little bubble they created in the back of the classroom.

Keith and Lance are silent for a while, until the euphoria slowly fades. Their smiles stay though, as well as their good mood, especially when Lance nudges the notebook against Keith‘s arm with a tic-tac-toe cross drawn at the end of the page.

Keith accepts the challenge, and they play until the teacher calls Keith out to release him from detention. Before he leaves the room, he shoots a glance over his shoulder, catches Lance‘s eyes with his own and hold his phone up for him to see.

Lance nods at him and send him off with a wink, making Keith feel the butterflies in his stomach doing somersaults.

He doesn‘t know how he got so lucky with his detention, but he doesn‘t question the universes plan for him and Lance either. For now, he just looks forward for his date on prom night.


	23. TV Show of Choice - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Honestly? Keith should have known that Lance would go all out.

When it comes to catching criminals, bets, and claiming his win, Lance tends to summon up more energy than a field of solar panels and a bunch of kids on a birthday party together. He tends to think like a kid as well, so that‘s that.

Keith didn‘t know why he expected Lance‘s proclaimed „worst date ever“ to go any different than this.

It started in the afternoon when Lance gave Keith his outfit for the night, a fire red suit with matching bow tie and a baby blue scrunchy to tie his hair in a pony tail. Meeting point was the precincts usual bar of course, and since it‘s a Friday, almost every person Keith knows was there.

Lance made his big entrance with a mariachi band and a white rose that he stuck on Keith‘s suit, greeting the rest of the precinct with his usual stupid grin before whisking Keith away in a black limo that brought them to their first stop: a cuban restaurant.

From the look of it the owners of the restaurant were in the plan as well, because they didn‘t mention Keith‘s bright red suit or the baby blue suit Lance choose for himself, and served them without any problem. Only when Lance tried to order the check and got waved off instead, Keith noticed the bright blue eyes from almost every worker in this restaurant, the same color his ‚date‘ has.

Back in the limo Lance revealed that this was his parents restaurant, and that he promised them to show them the result of the bet if he won. To say that Keith was annoyed that not only the whole precinct, but Lance‘s family saw him in this stupid get up as well is an understatement.

With his typical frown Keith even endured the next part of the date. Lance brought them to a club that was packed with old people slow dancing together. Of course, Lance even knew people in this place, greeting half of the dancers and a few, less older people at the bar with enthusiasm, and introducing Keith to almost all of them as well.

When Lance pulled him onto the dance floor to slow dance to some Elvis Presley song, Keith couldn‘t help himself but ask.

„How do you know all those people here?“

Lance laughed quietly, his eyes roaming over the dance floor. „My abuela loves this place, and since my abuelo died, I‘m the one taking her dancing every week.“

This was… actually pretty cute, if you ask Keith. He knew already that Lance loves his family even more than catching criminals or winning bets against Keith, but to learn that Lance would go out his way to take his grandmother out to dance every week sparks a few, small bubbly feelings in his chest.

He tries to ignore them, tries to keep on frowning, but when the song shifts to something latino and Lance spins them over the dance floor with loud laughs and sparkling eyes, Keith can‘t help but smile as well. Suit or not, and humiliation or not, this is actually a little bit fun.

Keith is almost disappointed when they get a call from Captain Shiro about a lead from a case Keith and Lance are working on together.

„Aw man,“ Lance pouts all the way back to the precinct, fancy limo switched for Lance‘s old Toyota, „too bad that we have to work. I still had some plants for tonight.“

„There was more?“ Keith asks incredulously.

Lance grins slyly, his eyes moving between Keith and the road. „Not much really, just watching the fireworks with some cheap booze and stale chips.“

„Stale chips?“ Keith asks instead of ‚fireworks‘, because that would have been pretty fucking nice as well. He tries to concentrate on the stupid part of this ‚date‘ instead, which will be over anyway as soon as they reach the precinct.

Lance grabs a bag from the corner store near the precinct from his back seat and holds it out for Keith. Inside are two open and very stale bags of chips and the cheapest, warm beer of Brooklyn, as well as a receipts dated to last week.

„You are a horrible person,“ Keith says with a frown, enjoying the way Lance snorts amused before they pull in on the precincts parking lot.

Turns out that Captain Shiro and the night shift guys are the only people in the office, and since no one is familiar with their case, it‘s up to Lance and Keith to do some nighttime-observations on the rooftop near a popular underground bar.

Shiro doesn‘t even let them get changed, so after grabbing their badges, guns and some equipment for the observation, they are off to the next stop.

„Who would have thought,“ Lance starts after they set up their little observation camp right at the edge of the rooftop, „that our worst-ever-date night would end like this, huh?“

Keith shrugs and takes the binoculars from Lance‘s hand, ignoring the bag of stale chips Lance insisted to take with them. „Honestly, it wasn‘t even that bad.“

Since there is no movement at the bar, Keith puts the binoculars on his lap and faces Lance instead. Lance looks utterly confused, even though the little grin is still on his lips.

„Are you saying that you had fun?“

„I mean,“ Keith starts, hoping that Lance won‘t be able to see his blush under the weak moonlight, „the food was great, the dancing was kind of fun and fireworks sound nice as well. The worst thing was the stupid limo.“

Lance laughs quietly. „I thought you would hate the suit even more.“

„The suit is stupid, but yours is even worse,“ Keith grins.

„Yeah.“ Lance looks down and plucks at the hem of his sleeve. „I had fun, too.“

„I figured,“ Keith says, and fall in with Lance‘s chuckle. „I guess we should do this again, just without the suits. And the limo. And the band!“

Lance raises an eyebrow at him. „Keith Kogane,“ he grins, „are you asking me out on a date?“

„On a normal one, yeah,“ Keith answers, trying to keep his voice light. His eyes move over the rooftops, since he‘s not able to look at Lance right now, or he might do something else like confess his stupid feelings he‘s been harboring for a while, or kiss that stupid grin of Lance‘s face.

„Wow, okay. I accept.“ Lance takes a chip from the bag and pops it into his mouth, chewing loudly while he bumps into Keith‘s shoulder. „But I expect to be wooed of my feet.“

„Yeah, yeah, whatever.“ Keith rolls his eyes and bumps Lance‘s shoulder right back. „Hand over the chips, I‘m getting hungry again.“

Overall, this evening wasn‘t so bad. And Keith really won‘t mind doing this all over again, just to spend some time together with his favorite partner and rival.


	24. Camp Half-Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Without having read any of the books, I present you all my knowledge from fanfictions.

Just like the Olympian gods, their children tend to not get along as well. Most of them are like fire and ice after all, and trying to bring those together always leads one or the other to danger, or even close do death.

That‘s why most houses tend to keep to themselves. The guardians and teachers don‘t stop them from reaching out to other cabins to find some friends, or even partners for battles, but they don‘t encourage them to do that either. The kids have to want it, after all, and not feel pressured to do it.

Else, Lance and Keith would have found together much sooner.

As the children of Aphrodite and Athene, they had many prejudices before they started talking to each other. Keith always thought as Lance to be vain, discordant and cocky, and since Lance made no move to prove him wrong, the image stayed until they got kidnapped by a Cyclops during training and had to work together to find their way back to the camp in one piece.

The kidnapping had also opened Lance eyes, since he only saw Keith as the arrogant and broody loner that exceeded in every fight thanks to his mother. But after long nights in tiny hideouts and stolen cars, he realized that there is more to Keith than his titanium sword and constant frown.

Now they are partners in battle, friend in the camp, and lover behind hidden doors. People talk a lot after all, and even as teenagers they have enemies that don‘t need to know of the person that makes them vulnerable.

Not even their friends know of their relationship, since Hunk tends to babble too much and Shiro would get overexcited about his baby brother having a boyfriend.

Also, they like the secrecy of their relationship, and the undisturbed time they get to spend like this.

Or would get to spend like this, if Lance wasn‘t bed-ridden right now.

Three days ago he caught a bad cold when he fell into the lake during a heated game of catch-the-flag. He should have stopped and gone back to his cabin to change, but since Keith was on the other team, he couldn‘t just call it quit and let him win.

If he had known that he would have to stay in his cabin for such a long time though, he would have quit immediately. Because between training, lessons and the short free moments they use for eating, there isn‘t really any time the students could use to, you know, make sick bed visits without anyone noticing.

So, Lance hasn‘t seen Keith for the last three days, and since he‘s used to seeing him every day, Lance is lonely. And in a bad mood as well.

Some of his roommates already had to suffer through his constant whining, even though they believe that Lance is angry because he can‘t get out of the cabin. If they knew that Lance just wants to see his boyfriend, they would have snuck him in days ago, since Aphrodite‘s children love anything related to love and gossip.

Well, with everyone gone to training, Lance can at least skip out on todays gossip. The headache that is torturing since breakfast makes his nerves feel burned and raw, and even the tiniest noises annoy him immensely.

A shuffling from one of the windows to his back grates on his ears like sandpaper, and with a frown Lance turns around to see where that noise is coming from. There are hands on the windowsill, and Lance is about to tell that person very nicely to fuck off until he recognizes the raven black hair as his boyfriends.

His mood lifts immediately, as well as the corners of his mouth. Lance laughs unbelievingly, to stunned to see his boyfriend sneaking away from training and into Lance‘s cabin just to see him.

„Keith!“ Lance stage whispers as soon as Keith makes it through the window. He lifts himself on his elbows even though it sends another wave of pain through his body.

With a few strides Keith is by his bedside, taking in Lance‘s poor condition with his usual frown. Lance knows him well enough to see the glint of worry in his eyes, as well as the same loneliness that Lance has been feeling the last few days.

„Hey,“ Keith murmurs softly while running his fingers through Lance hair. He doesn‘t mind that it‘s all sweaty and greasy, because he knows that Lance likes that touch, even when his head is throbbing and his skin is burning up.

„Hey,“ Lance whispers back, closing his eyes from Keith‘s cool hands on his forehead.

Keith chuckles lowly, a very rare sound and a melody in Lance‘s ears. „How are you feeling?“

„Horrible,“ Lance moans, even though the smile on his face gives him away. „A lot better now that you are here.“

Keith sits down on the edge of the bed and urges Lance to lay back onto the pillows. He wraps Lance into his blankets and tugs him in, until Lance feels like a hot burrito. He doesn‘t have the energy to fight Keith, even though he doesn‘t like being manhandled like this. Lance always tries to challenge Keith in one way or another, even when they are alone.

„I thought you had training?“ Lance asks after a while, already feeling himself falling back asleep but wanting to stay awake and enjoy Keith‘s presence a little bit longer.

„I skipped.“

Lance huffs, though it sounds more like a snort with his nose clogged thanks to the cold. „I‘m honored that you skipped for me,“ he mutters, hardly able to form a single coherent thought with how Keith‘s fingers are lulling him in.

„Okay, move over.“

Keith nudges Lance‘s side until he shuffles to the edge of the small mat and lies down beside him. Lance lifts his head so Keith can wrap him up in his arms, and he uses their closeness to tug his head under Keith‘s chin and snuggle into his chest.

„Better?“ Keith asks with a chuckle after Lance finally settled down.

„Better,“ Lance echoes with a heavy sigh, eyes already dropping again until he falls back asleep. After all, for Lance there is nothing better than sleeping in his boyfriend‘s arms.


	25. Neighbors

Keith doesn’t mind living in a big apartment complex. Rent is cheaper, there’s always someone around to take his packages when he’s at work, the landlords allow to keep a few pets in the apartments and the whole place is overall quiet and friendly.

After college he used to move around for a while, trying to find a nice place for Kosmo and him that is not too far from work and close to some parks or forests where he can walk his dog and get some fresh air himself. It took him a while to find this place, and a few more weeks of waiting until one of the apartments became free, but it was definitely worth all the trouble.

Now he lives in the third floor with a pretty view over the park behind his flat and some really great neighbors.

Ms Sparks, for example, who lives on the ground floor and loves dogs. The lady says she is too old to keep one herself, but she always enjoys watching Kosmo for a few hours or even walking him around a few blocks when Keith has to work longer to finish some projects.

On the second floor lives Mr Grey, and old man who is secretly in love with Ms Sparks and always trying to woo her by taking care of Kosmo as well. Keith doesn’t mind, because Kosmo likes both of them, and secretly roots for Mr Grey to finally ask Ms Sparks out on a proper date.

His favorite neighbor lives on the same floor. Lance is a cat owner, and much like Kosmo and his cat Blue, they didn’t really get along in the beginning.

When Keith first moved in, the company he booked for moving his stuff left everything in the tiny hall behind the front door, effectively blocking the way with a six foot high wall made of cardboard boxes.

That happened to be around the same time Lance got called into work for an emergency. He rushed down the stairs, almost running Keith over before bumping right into the boxes, which ended in a short shouting quarrel before Lance convinced Ms Sparks to let him use one of her windows to get outside.

It took some time for both of them to warm up to each other, but with the help of a bit alcohol and the encouraging words of Ms Sparks and Mr Grey, Keith managed to apologize to Lance at the barbeque the whole complex holds every year.

Now, almost six months later, Lance and he were not only neighbors, but good friends as well. Blue also became accustomed to the almost constant presence of Kosmo in her home, and now they are inseparable, always cuddling or playing with each other when Keith comes around for a game night, or just to watch a movie.

Over the time Keith came to see Lance as more than a friend.

With his easy smiles and beautiful eyes, handsome face and soft skin, but mostly with his bubbly personality, his empathy for others and willingness to help everyone in need, Keith was quickly drawn to Lance.

And it seems that Lance feels the same. At least that what Keith hopes.

Why else would Lance cuddle into his side whenever they watch a movie on the couch? Why else would he get over to Keith’s place to cook together, and then eat together, and then play some silly games or watch some TV together, almost every evening? Why else would he some over for breakfast, hair still a mess from literally falling out of the bed and yawning loudly until he gets his first coffee?

Keith really hopes that he doesn’t interprets all these little things wrong, but he can’t think of any other neighbor walk into Keith’s life, and apartment, like Lance does.

He knows that all his questions probably will stay unanswered for a little longer. But as long as Lance keeps on coming over to spend some time with him, he doesn’t really care about the answers anyway.


	26. Artists/Performers

The soft sound of Lance‘s guitar illuminates the whole room in yellows and oranges, that get even stronger with the sun shining through their half drawn curtains.

Lance is laying on the bed in Keith‘s favorite band shirt and low hanging sweats. His skins is glistening with a few drops from his previous shower, his hair damp and curly and his beautiful, pearly smile on full force whenever he opens his eyes to see Keith still drawing.

Lance keeps up the quiet melodies, caressing the strings of his guitar with the gentlest touches. When he begins to hum the room erupts into blues and greens, like the ocean playing with the sand on a tropical island.

Keith quickly switches between colors, using the old towel to clean his fingers from the yellow paint and to keep the bed clean. He doesn‘t want to risk Lance getting annoyed again for dirtying their sheets with paint that stains the fabric for good.

Lance watches him just as careful as Keith is watching the colors of his voice. He keeps up the same color for as long as possible, switching between calm songs and melodies until he runs out of ideas. With one look at Keith he makes sure that it‘s okay to change the melody, to change the colors that Keith can see thanks to his synesthesia.

With a smile Keith nods at him and awaits the next wave of songs. The light around Lance change to a warm baby blue until they get replaced by pastels. It starts with a soft emerald and turquoise, until dots of a warm white appear and combine with cherry blossom pink, light violets and aqua colors.

Even when Lance sings love songs his voice is full of blue.

Keith gets a new canvas and starts painting the new picture with a clean brush. He has to mix up some colors, since his pallet doesn‘t consist of any pastels, even though he draws Lance‘s love songs so often.

Lance keeps up the melody, sings in English and Spanish and sends shivers down Keith‘s spine whenever he looks at him. Keith knows almost all of the lyrics by heart, but doesn‘t sing with him to not interfere with the current color pallet. His voice is much lower after all, and would bring too many blues and greens to the painting for his liking.

It took both of them months to figure out which songs, which notes and melodies inspire Keith to draw them out. Lance was even more motivated than Keith to help him with his art, which took a lot of learning for him as well.

But now they got the hang of it, and Keith feels more confident and comfortable with his synesthesia then ever. Now he is able to use his ability to make beautiful art, to show other people what it is like to live with a condition like this, and to inspire other artists with his work.

A particular high note sends a wave of warm, blinding white through Keith‘s vision. He it‘s one of his favorite colors, because it mixes so well with Lance‘s natural blues and the pinks he brings out with his songs. It‘s also the color that he likes to keep to himself, only painting it every once in a while and never showing it to anyone but Lance. It‘s their color after all, bright and happy and full of love.

The colors disappear when Lance finishes his last song and places the guitar on the sheets next to him. He lets Keith finish the painting, watches silently how the last few pastels mix together with the lines and swirls of pink, violet and aqua.

„It‘s beautiful,“ Lance praises when Keith is cleaning his hands and brushes in the sink in their bathroom. His praises are accompanied by flashes of azure and make Keith smile.

„Thanks to you,“ he answers when he‘s back in the bedroom. He places the brushes and the towel on the chair where most of his art supplies for their little sessions in their flat are gathered. A few empty canvases sit next to already filled ones, a few pallets and a cup that said ‚paint water, not coffee‘.

Lance is already laying back under the sheets, so Keith joins him and cuddles into his open arms. He feels Lance‘s strong heart beat, and a few dark red swirls flutter into his vision every now and then.

Keith breaths in the the soft, clean smell of Lance‘s shirt and the hint of coconut underneath. Lance holds him tight, kisses his hair gently and plays with a loose string on Keith‘s sleeve. They might fall back asleep like this, but they don‘t mind. Lazy Sundays are for sleeping in and cuddling with your loved one after all.

And if Keith stays awake just to see the night sky blue of Lance‘s cute snores, he won‘t mind as well.


	27. Fantasy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared, this is an angsty story! I just thought that a little bit of angst should be included as well.

The sun is breaking through the clouds and over the horizon in the far distance, painting the sky in the most beautiful reds and oranges Keith has ever seen. The picture lets him forget his freezing limbs for a while, because it throws him deep into a memory he likes to cherish in moments like these.

Warm skin under his fingertips, shivers under his palm and the soft beat of Lance‘s heart in his ear whenever Keith‘s rests his head upon his chest. Keith can almost feel Lance running his fingers through Keith‘s hair, trying to gently untangle the messy, black mop that he likes so much.

Keith‘s own hand rest on Lance‘s chest, right next to his head, until Lance takes it and intertwines their fingers. He raises their hands to his lips and kisses them, the searing heat that goes through Keith‘s body at the loving touch just as hot as the first rays of the summer sun breaking through the curtains and warming their bodies.

It‘s still early, the birds half asleep, the ocean calm after last nights storm,  and the rest of the world forgotten with Lance in his arms. Keith wishes he could stay like this, stop time and live the rest of eternity in this exact moment in his lovers arms, happy and content and so, so warm.

Approaching steps pull him out of his fantasy, and Keith tenses until he recognizes the steps as his brothers. Not a moment later Shiro‘s head pop up around the corner of the wall the soldiers build out of stones and logs.

„Any movement?“ he whispers after he is close enough, carefully sitting down next to Keith without making any sound.

Keith shakes his head and hugs his sword closer, trying to huddle further into his thin coat that does nothing against the harsh spring temperatures at the borders of Altea. They stationed near the mountains after all, right next to the enemies territory, and Keith swears that the stone-cold demeanor of the Galra affect nature as well.

Shiro stays with him, watches the sun rise and the land around them slowly wake up. It‘s nice to have company once in a while, even if they can‘t risk making any noise because the enemy could be right behind the wall.

Keith enjoys the moment for what it‘s worth, too used for the nice things to end so fast. Just like his time with his lover, the quiet and serene moments in this war can end in a heartbeat.

He stops himself before he can start to think about Lance again. Thoughts like this belong to the past, and he can‘t risk getting distracted by fantasies. He can‘t risk his life, or the lives of his brothers for thinking about something that will never happen again.

After all, Lance is…

Shiro bumps into his arm, jerking his attention from the barren land in front of them towards himself. „Your shift is over,“ he murmurs lowly, „go get some rest.“

„I‘m not tired,“ Keith answers just as quiet, earning a disapproving look from his brother.

It‘s not the first time Keith has received this look over his questionable sleeping habits, and it won‘t be the last time either. He guesses that he is lucky that Shiro can‘t really argue with him on that, since they shouldn‘t be speaking at all.

Shiro shakes his head, but leaves him be for now. His gaze shifts over to the bushes and trees in front of them, trying to make out an enemy that might or might not be there. Keith does the same, even if his eyes feel even heavier than his frozen limbs.

When the color of the sky fades to it‘s usual blue, Keith decides that the company is not worth the cold anymore. With a nod towards his brother he silently gets up and sneaks back to the camp, where the other soldiers from the night shift are already gathered around a meager breakfast.

Keith receives some watery soup and a loaf of hard bread and devours it in minutes before shuffling towards his cot. He takes off his shoes and his coat and hangs them on a nail at the end of his bed, places the dagger from his mother under his pillow and finally cuddles into the scratchy sheets.

Nothing in this makeshift camp feels like home, even if Keith spends almost all his time here.

Home is something else to him. It‘s soft sheets and a salty breeze, the ocean lulling him into sleep and the smell of breakfast waking him up. It‘s the songs of fishers and sailors, the feeling of sand between his toes wherever he goes and the warmth of the sun and his lovers kisses.

But home is destroyed, the songs silenced, the sheets burned and the people, his beloved people, fallen to the Galran blades.

The little fisher towns near the borders were the first places the Galra attacked. They burned the houses and killed every Altean they could find, since they don‘t have any use for prisoners or slaves.

Keith had been in the capital at this time, spending a few weeks with his brother, training a new generation of soldiers and waiting for the day he would get back home and clasp Lance in his arms again.

But that day never came.

Keith sighs into his pillow. The memories are what keep him up most nights, or days, like now. He stares at the walls of the tent, listens to the soldiers outside laugh and talk. His eyes are so heavy, and his body exhausted from previous battles and the cold nights on the wall, but sleeps won‘t come to release him, at least for a few hours.

Unknowingly, his hand moves towards the band around his neck, and Keith pulls out the little stone attached to the silver chain. It‘s a stone from the ocean Lance loved so dearly, hard to find in the sea and even harder on land, and it took Keith ages to hunt it down. That‘s why he left for the capital in the first place, to find the perfect gift to ask for Lance‘s hand.

Keith closes his fist around the stone and presses it to his heart. He can feel the tears prickle in his eyes, but forces them down. He doesn‘t want to cry, since it exhausts him even more than the long nights outside or a battle against the enemy.

Instead he tries to think of his lover, the only things that seems to help him sleep by now. He thinks of Lance‘s heartbeat and his warm hands, his soft caresses and gentle kisses, and the way he whispered confessions of love into Keith‘s hair.

Keith can almost feel Lance here with him, indulges the fantasy for what it’s worth, and falls asleep with a bittersweet smile.


	28. Free Day of Choice - Avian

Lance knows that nature loves all its children equally, but lately he can‘t stop thinking that the sun and the wind love Keith the most.

Everyone would think that, with the way the wind embraces each and every night black feather of Keith‘s wings, the way it lifts him with its strong gusts and the way it brings him home safely even in the harshest storms.

And the sun, with her beautiful rays highlighting the dark red pattern on Keith‘s feathers, and how she seems to love warming up the sand under Keith‘s feet, so he can clean his wings with the best ingredients of nature.

Lance is envious sometimes, at the wind and the sun, because they can show their love towards Keith so open and upfront. They don‘t need to hide their affection behind friendship and platonic closeness, their blushes behind sunken gazes and calloused hands, all those feelings behind closed off hearts and petty remarks when another avian notices Keith‘s beauty as well.

They have been together since they were children, their families close thanks to the small size of their flock, and Keith and Lance stuck together as the youngest of the families. They grew up together, learned to fly together, to hunt together and to care for the next generation of fledgelings together.

And a few moons ago, Lance realized that he can‘t imagine a life without Keith by his side.

That was about the same time when his dilemma started. How is he supposed to confess to his childhood friend when he doesn‘t even know if Keith reciprocates his feelings? How does he find out without messing up their friendship? Where does he start to begin with?

Questions over questions, and whenever he asks his mother or sisters for advice, he gets sent off with knowing smiles and amused laughs. Which doesn‘t help him at all.

All he can do for now is pine after his best friend, watch the wind play with his hair and the sun with his feathers, and ask himself how it would be to touch those himself, not for preening, but just to caress them gently and with all the love he holds inside his heart.

Because Lance knows how Keith‘s feathers feels in his palm, knows how his fingers feel when they run through Keith‘s hair, but the times that Keith lets Lance touch him are rare, to rare for Lance‘s liking, but rare enough for his sanity to stay stable.

It‘s another day of questions, another day of silently watch Keith conquest the strong winds that the mountain brings towards their village and imagining how it would feel to be Keith‘s equal.

Of course, Lance tries not to stare at his best friend too much, since he has a job to do as well. The fledglings don‘t learn to fly on their own after all, and Lance has the most patience for his young students, even more than the rest of the caretakers of the flock. He doesn‘t have time to watch Keith depart for his daily hunts, since the kids need his full attention.

With a sigh he gets to work, fluffs up the tiny wings that need some fluffing, preens the even tinier wings that need some preening, and motivates every fledgling behind those wings to try their best for todays lesson as well.

It‘s an exhausting job, trying to wrestle a bunch of kids into obliging to the rules of nature and their flock, but its worthwhile nevertheless. Lance loves each and every single one of these kids after all, knows their wings almost as well as their mothers and their nature almost as well as, well, mother nature herself.

He is so focused on one of the youngest kids that he doesn‘t see Keith approaching him until Keith lands right next to him with an almost silent huff. His black wings skim over Lance‘s back and wings, a gesture of deep trust to both of them.

The kids greet Keith with their high-pitched chirps, but keep their focus on the other caretakers and their current flight lesson. With a smile Lance excuses himself quickly and guides Keith to the edge of the platform where they are holding the lesson, so they can speak without anyone listening.

„I hope I‘m not interrupting something important,“ Keith says with a look at the young fledgelings.

Lance quickly shakes his head, takes the moment Keith is distracted to look at him instead. Keith‘s long hair is a mess, the braid from the morning undone from the winds teasing breezes and his wild style of flying. His feathers are ruffled with some leaves between them, a clear sign that he‘s just back from a hunt.

„Do you need something?“ Lance asks after a second, because it‘s unusual for Keith to visit him during a lesson.

„Yeah,“ Keith answers, a playful smile on his lips now. „I wanted to ask if you are free after your lesson.“

„I am.“ Lance crooks his head at him. „Why?“

Keith steps a bit closer, and his wings brush over Lance‘s again, along his back, arms and even his waist. Keith lowers his voice a little since he is so close now. „I want to show you something.“

Lance smiles at him, confused at Keith‘s sudden secrecy, not the subtle touches. He is far too familiar with those to pay them too much mind. „What do you want to show me?“ he asks just as playful as Keith seems to be.

„You‘ll see,“ Keith answer, smile soft now and a tint of pink on his cheeks and the tip of his ears. „I‘ll pick you up.“

Keith steps back and throws himself into the air with a single, strong stroke of his wings. Keith is one of the few avian that can actually take off from a standing position, something that Lance envies and admires at the same time.

Lance watches Keith vanish behind the thick branches that make out their village, flying towards the nest he shares with his mother right next to Lance‘s family nest.

Lance is still wondering what got into Keith when he gets back to his fledgelings. The playfulness between them is nothing new, just like the subtle touches, but the secrecy and especially the blushing definitely is.

_Well_ , Lance thinks to himself when he‘s back to adjusting his little students wings, _I guess I‘ll just have to wait and see._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Comments mean the world to me, so please tell me what you think.
> 
> Get more info about me and my writing on [ my tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/wertdifferenz), and all stories under #KlanceAuMonth.


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